Another, Insane Choice
by I LIKE FEAR 1-2
Summary: Major Alex Cameron, mission: To ensure the survival of John Connor and his Future wife. A simple mission, but one of great importance, Alex is sent back to protect John and his wife, a woman who until very recently, no one knew about. Going off of what little information they have the Connor's begin the next step in their journey, as new threats begin to appear. Jameron pairing OC.
1. Chapter 1

_Okay so... this is my first T:SCC story, but I've been a huge fan, of Terminator since the beginning. This story takes place in the middle of 'Ourselves alone' after Riley cuts herself, but before she dies... and follows the story of John, Derek, Cameron, Sarah, and my own OC Troy. Heavy Jameron... possible others. Who knows. Anyway let's begin and let me know what you think, sorry in advance when it comes to the technical aspects regarding the machines... I'm not really tech savvy._

_**Another, Insane Choice**_

Enter Alex

'Knock.' 'Knock.' 'Knock.'

Riley's father let out a sigh as he opened the front door, revealing two men.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"Yes. Is this the home of Riley Dawson?" One of the men asked, in a kind voice.

Riley's father eyed the two men, both were dressed in nice suits and they were both descent sized guys. Both stood about five foot, seven inches, they were both clean shaven and had short brown hair, one had green eyes and one had brown eyes. Other then the eye color and the hair, the two looked a lot alike, not like twins, but they could be mistaken for siblings.

"This is." He replied, after he finished his analysis.

"Are you her father?" The second man asked, even their voices sounded similar.

"I am. What is this about?" He asked, crossing his arms.

Both the men simultaneously held up badges, showing that they were with the police. "Your daughter Riley, filed a complaint with us a few days ago. We were asked to investigate." The first man replied, with a small smile.

"What do you mean complaint?" Riley's father asked, with a confused look.

"Miss Dawson, filed a complaint regarding a young man that she believed to be following her. We were asked to check in on her, and see if there was any validity to her complaint and if so, we wish to see if she would like to file for a restraining order." The second man explained.

"This is the first I've heard about it." Riley's father said with a shake of his head.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Is Riley home?" The first man asked, with a curious look.

"No. She's out with her boyfriend right now." Riley's father answered, with a sigh.

"Does she have a cellphone, that we could call her on? My partner and I have a lot of work we need to do, and we would like to get this job done quickly, if you do not mind." The Second man stated, in a very formal, and respectful manner.

"Yeah... let me write it down for you." Her father stated, as he turned and vanished down a hallway, for a second.

He returned a few moments later, with a piece of paper. "Is there something that I need to be doing?" He asked as he handed one of them the paper.

"I would strongly suggest, you talk to her about this, at the earliest possible convenience. We'll have a chat with her, and see if there is anything to actually worry about." The First man stated, keeping his smile, as he turned to leave.

"Have a nice day, Mr. Dawson." The second man stated as he turned to follow his partner.

"Yeah... thanks." Riley's father replied, with a confused look, as he closed the door.

The two men walked down the driveway, to a black SUV, parked on the street. They both quietly hopped in the front. They sat silently for a moment before turning to look back at a third man sitting in the back of the car with a lap top.

"Trap and trace, ready." The Third man stated.

The First man took the phone number, and drew a cellphone out of his pocket, he quietly began dialing the number. It began to ring, a few second went by before Riley answered.

"Hello?" She asked, sounding confused.

"Riley! Thanks for picking up." The First man spoke, in a voice that mimicked her father's

"What is it?" She asked, she sounded almost relieved to hear his voice. "Who's phone are you calling from?"

"Sorry. Some damn kid, knocked mine, right out of my hands. The damn thing wont work. I borrowed someone's, to make a quick call. Listen, I haven't been able to get ahold of your mother, I need you to call her and let her know that I'm going to be late. I need to pick up a new phone." He finished dryly.

"Sure... whatever dad. I really need to go." Riley stated, in a slightly worried tone.

"Alright... I'll see you later." The First man finished with a small smile.

"Later." Riley replied as she hung up the phone.

The First man calmly hung up the phone and looked back at the third man. "Well?" He asked.

The Third man looked up and smiled, "We have an address."

"Good. Let us go." The Second man stated, as they drove off.

* * *

-20 minutes later-

Riley paced back and forth as John and his Mother spoke off to the side. Riley held a look of worry, she did not have enough energy to deal with all of the shit that had been going on recently. She glanced over just as the doorbell rang.

Sarah and John both stopped talking and shared a look. Sarah immediately began to approach the door.

John took a few steps back, until he was at Riley's side. They both quickly shared a look, as Sarah peeked out through the peek hole.

She saw an average guy in a hula shirt and glasses, standing at the door. Sarah let out a sigh, as her gaze dropped to the floor. She stood there for a second until she heard another knock at the door. After a moment, she made a shuffling noise with her feet, to make it sound like someone was approaching the door, and then she opened it.

Sarah's eyes widened suddenly as she opened the door. The hula shirt, wearing guy was gone, and in his place were two men in suits.

"Hello miss. Is Riley Dawson here." The first man stated.

Sarah stared at him for a second, as she processed the question. "No... sorry. You must have the wrong house." Sarah stated with a smile.

"She doesn't live here. We were told she was with a friend." The Second man stated.

"Sorry... I don't know her." Sarah stated with a scratch of her head.

"Oh well..." The first man began to state, but he stopped as his eyes drifted off Sarah, and onto something behind her.

Sarah stared at the man for a moment, noticing a shift in his gaze. 'Please don't let her be behind me.' She said to herself as she glanced over her shoulder, Sarah felt her heart drop, as her eyes fell upon nothing, and she heard a click.

Sarah turned her head back around, only to be greeted with the sight of a silenced M9 handgun, pointed right at her forehead.

"Are you sure Riley Dawson, isn't here?" The second man stated with a smile, he was the one with the gun aimed at Sarah's head.

The First man also smiled as he stepped past Sarah into the house. As he passed her, he reached out and took the pistol that she had, tucked into the back of her jeans. Sarah, let out a sigh as she slowly raised her hands in surrender. The man with the gun didn't react or change his look, he just stared at her as she held up her hands.

"Come out! All three of you. We would prefer to not have to kill this woman." The First man stated.

'Don't be stupid. Run! Run! Run!' Sarah kept saying to herself, as the man in the Hula shirt appeared next to her and walked into the house.

"I know you're in the kitchen... and I know you're armed. Lay down your weapons and step out, we only want Riley, there is no need for the rest of you to die." The First man stated, as he raised a silenced handgun and aimed it into the kitchen.

"Three... Two..." The Man in the hula shirt began counting, right as he reached one, Riley stood up from behind a counter in the kitchen.

Sarah could just barely hear, a shuffling sound, coming from where she stood. Sarah guessed that it was Cameron, stopping John from intervening.

"Riley Dawson?" The First man asked, as she stepped into view.

Riley's eye were full of terror as she stood in front of the man, as she processed his question she slowly nodded as tears began to stream down her face.

"Good... Listen carefully... If you ever come into contact with a man named John Connor... you are to walk away... otherwise... we will kill you." The man in the Hula shirt stated.

John's eyes widened, as he listened from behind the counter, as Cameron pinned him down. Cameron listened intently to their speech patters, she could tell that they were machines, but something about their actions was off.

Sarah just listened, not moving an inch, though her brain let out a small sigh of relief, 'They don't know that John is here.'

"What?" Riley asked, her eyes wide with confusion and fear.

"One day very soon, you will meet a man named John Connor. When you meet this man you are to walk away, and never speak to him again. Otherwise we will kill you, and your whole family." The hula shirt wearing guy, explained.

"That's all?" Riley asked, her eyes trained on the gun that was pointed at her.

"That's all. When you meet this man... simply walk away. We will be watching." The First man stated.

"Are we clear?" The Guy wearing the Hula shirt asked.

"Yeah... just walk away. I think I can do that." Riley stated, with a weak nod.

"Good." The First man stated as he lowered his gun and began to walk towards the door.

The Hula shirt wearing guy quickly followed after him. As he walked past her The First man handed Sarah her gun.

"You should be careful playing with guns. Someone could get hurt." He stated with a smile as he handed it to her.

Sarah kept one hand raised as she took the gun, her eyes never leaving, the man with the gun pointed at her head.

After a moment he lowered his gun and began to follow after, his two compatriots.

Sarah watched wide eyed as the three men... or machines walked in unison down their driveway. They made it about hallway, when suddenly a purple bolt slammed into each one. The Hula shirt wearing guy, was hit in the head, and he stopped dead in his tracks, while the other two were hit in the arm and the leg. Both shots resulted in the severing of the respected limbs.

Sarah watched, as the Second man's arm fell off, she could just barely make out the metal burnt endoskelatal nub, where his arm use to be. The First man lost his leg, and fell to the floor, neither reacted to their injuries other then to shoot glances in the direction of the shots. Suddenly another shot slammed into the First man's face, killing him for good.

The Second man tried to reach for his gun, but it had been in the hand of his now, missing arm. As he reached for it, another shot slammed into his chest knocking him back onto the grass. By now Cameron was passing Sarah, ready to join the fight, as the terminator passed her, Sarah finally broke out of her trance, and took cover behind the door frame.

She glanced behind her and saw John standing a few feet away with a loaded shotgun, after a moment her and John peeked outside, they saw Cameron standing over the Second man.

Sarah let out a sigh as she slowly stepped out and began walking towards Cameron, who was simply standing over the fallen machine, staring at it oddly.

Sarah glanced across the yard towards the direction from which the purple bolts came from. Slowly approaching them from the neighbors yard, was a man in a long brown coat. In his hand was a black handgun... or at least from this distance it looked like a handgun.

Sarah finally made it to Cameron's side, as John and Riley, slowly exited the house. John held the shotgun close, and Riley held onto the back of his shirt, as the two made their way to Cameron and Sarah.

"You're a machine." The Second man stated, staring up at Cameron.

"So are you." Cameron replied, as she tried to analyze his endoskeleton.

"Are you John Connor?" The Second man asked, as John and Riley, appeared next to them. John glanced over his shoulder at the mysterious figure that had stopped about twenty feet from where they were standing, the guy had his collar popped to hide his face, and he wore a black snow hat, and black sunglasses, from this distance John couldn't get a very good look at him. After a moment he looked down at the injured machine that sat lie in the grass, before them.

"You are aren't you? How interesting. You got here faster then anticipated." The Second man stated, addressing the mystery man, at the end.

"When is SkyNet going to stop underestimating, the stubborn bull, that is John Connor?" The Mystery man stated, as he finally approached them. His voice was raspy, but had a certain charm to it. He sounded youthful while at the same time, old.

"Stubborn bull... that is funny..." The Second man replied, with a smile, that looked remarkably like Cromartie's.

"Later..." The mystery man stated as he raised his sleek black handgun, that upon closer inspection looked like a sleeker version of the Desert Eagle.

"Before I die, can you tell me. Were we close?" The Machine asked.

"You wanna know what's funny? Connor didn't tell me shit." The Mystery man replied with a single laugh as he pulled the trigger. Instantly a purple bolt flew out of the gun, and blasted the machines, metal skull open. The shot tore it's skull in half, killing it instantly.

Sarah stared at the machine for a few moments, never before had she seen one so easily killed. It was almost unbelievable, but here it was, dead, and there were two more, just like it. After a moment she focused her attention on the mystery man. John and Cameron, were both already focused on their mysterious savior.

"Who are you?" John asked.

"Alex... Alex Cameron." The man stated without looking at him. John and Sarah both shared a look before, before glancing at Cameron, who had her head tilted, in that way she would, whenever something caught her interest.

"We should take them inside." Alex stated, after a moment.

Sarah let out a sigh, before, nodding in agreement, though she never took her eyes off of Alex.

Cameron knelt down and picked up on of the machines, she measured it's weight as she dragged it towards the house, '423.4312 lbs.' she learned as she continued to drag it.

John was about to make a move to help Alex as he knelt down to pick up the Machine that he had just executed but, surprisingly, (or not), Alex lifted it, and the other one with general ease. Sarah and John shared a look, as the same thought passed through both of their minds at the same time, 'Metal!'.

* * *

-Five Minutes Later-

The Connor's stood in their living room, the three machine corpses lined up in front of them.

"John and I should do an intricate study of their endoskeletons. They aren't the same make or model as the T-888." Cameron explained.

"So... these are newer?" Sarah asked with an angry huff.

"Possibly... I won't know, until we examine them closely." Cameron replied.

Alex simply stood, on the opposite side of the room, watching the Connor's from behind his sunglasses.

All the while, Riley sat silently on the couch, not making a sound. Hoping and praying that, they would all just forget she was there.

"So... He sent another one back." Sarah stated, with a mixture of anger and... fatigue.

John and Cameron both looked over at Alex, who just stared back.

After a moment, John approached, him. "That's some pretty impressive tech you've got there." John commented.

Alex raised his gun, looked it over, before spinning it around in his hand and offering it to John. "Seventy-Five Watt, Anti-Personal, semi-auto, repeating plasma pistol." Alex stated.

John stared at the gun for a moment, before he reached out to take it. He slowly began to examine it, in his hand, the first thing that he noticed was that it weighed about fifteen pounds. "Got some heft to it."

As he examined the gun, Cameron and Sarah both slowly made their way to his side.

"This is a plasma based weapon." Cameron stated, eying Alex.

"Yes it is." Alex replied, in a nonchalant tone.

"How did you bring it here?" Cameron asked.

"SkyNet figured out how to send back anything, it wants." Alex responded, Sarah and John both shot each other horrified looks.

"Are you serious?" John asked, praying that this was all a dream.

"Yep... I'm serious... We're all pretty boned." Alex stated with a smile.

"I do believe that is an accurate description of our current situation." Cameron agreed.

"So... John sent another one of you back?" Sarah asked.

"Another one?" Alex, responded, eying her curiously.

"Another machine. I saw what you could do. You lifted two of these machines like they were nothing." Sarah stated, her voice dark, and her eyes filled with contempt.

"Holy shit! He glares just like you." Alex said with a single laugh.

Sarah's expression, softened slightly, "You mean John?"

"Yeah... I can see where he gets his angry face." Alex stated, keeping his smile.

"You don't seem like one of them." John noted, "Are you new?"

"I'm not a machine, I'm a man... with bio-enhancements." Alex stated, staring at John.

"Bio... enhancements?" Sarah and John both shared a look.

"What year do you come from?" Cameron asked, suddenly.

"2044." Alex replied.

"Holy shit... and we're still fighting SkyNet?" John asked as he let out an angry sigh.

"Yes... but we're winning..." Alex stated, as he pulled off his glasses.

"Winning?" Sarah asked, not quite understanding, what that meant.

"Los Angeles. SkyNet's last foot hold in North America. We're a hop, skip, and jump away from retaking our first continent." Alex stated proudly.

"Seriously?" John asked with a smile. This was the first good news, that anyone from the future had ever brought.

"Yeah... and you look like shit." Alex answered with a smile.

"I bet. Fighting to save mankind, and winning a war against an army of unstoppable robots, tends to do that." John rebutted.

"So... you said you're not a machine. That you have some sort of enhancements..." Sarah, tried to wrap her head around, what that could possibly mean.

"John and the FM brigade, designed it..." Alex began, but John cut him off.

"FM brigade?" John asked, glancing at Alex, then at Cameron, seeing if she knew, about what he was talking about.

"They are called the Free Machines Brigade. We call them the FM's for short. Anyway they were the ones who designed this stuff... It's based off a similar principle to the Machines skin sheaths. It's bio-mechanical technology, installed into the human body, for a wide range of enhancements. John got the idea after he found an old book about a table top game called Shadow Run. Gotta tell ya... it hurt like a bitch, but it gets the job done." Alex explained.

"That's insane." John stated with a shake of his head.

"So you're a resistance fighter?" Sarah asked.

"Major, Alex Cameron, of the UFS. We don't call ourselves the resistance anymore. We stopped being a resistance, a long time ago. Now we're a nation, and a true army." Alex stated with a grin.

"UFS?" John asked, as he tilted his head.

"United Federation of States." Alex stated.

John just stared at him... this was unbelievable. They never got this kind of good news. Every time someone came back, they always told about a war, that just seemed to drag on. Though now, there was this guy, saying that the war, was turning in humanities favor, and not only that, but humanity had created their own nation. This was almost too good to be true.

"So... SkyNet, can send metal back, without them needing skin to protect them?" John finally asked after a moment.

"Yes... not only that, but it can send back the larger more powerful machines too." Alex explained.

"Fuck!" Sarah hissed angrily.

"What was you mission?" Cameron asked suddenly.

"I was sent back to ensure the survival of John Connor, and his future wife." Alex answered.

That drew, Sarah's, John's, and Riley's attention.

"Wife?" John asked, a little taken aback.

"Yeah..." Alex replied, understanding, the interesting turn of events, that must be occurring.

"Who is she?" John asked without thinking, though his heart skipped a beat as he realized why the terminators had come for Riley.

He and Sarah both glanced over at her, Riley just stared back, her eyes were wide.

"I don't think it's her." Alex stated, scratching his head.

"Why not?" John asked, refocusing his attention.

"One drunken night, John Connor told me about his wife... he said she was a brunette, light skinned, bright blue eyes. It get's a little graphic from there but, yeah, you get the point." Alex stated.

"You mean, you don't know what she looks like?" Sarah asked after a moment.

"I didn't even know John Connor had a wife, until a few years ago. According to Connor, I'm one of ten people who knows that he has a wife, and two others are him and his wife. People suspected, but they never had any proof. SkyNet did some digging and somehow learned that John met his wife before the war. So it started to send machines back to find the woman, that were known to have crossed his path... the woman that would be the most likely suspects." Alex explained.

"So that's why they came for Riley. To scare her off?" John guessed.

"Yep... All I know is that you're wife had a huge part to play in the formation, and stabilization of the FM brigade. I have no clue what that means, all I know is that Connor asked me to do this personally." Alex informed them.

"What's so important about the FM brigade?" John asked, curiously.

"In good time my friend..." Alex responded with a smile

"Personally? You spoke to John directly?" Cameron asked, as a small spasm shot through her arm.

"I know... that's how everyone reacts. Connor's had an interest in me since I was born. He even gave me my last name." Alex stated.

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked, with a confused look.

"Sometime after Judgment Day, my mother suffered from amnesia. John found her in a sewer, and nursed her back to health. She didn't know who she was, or where she came from. So John gave her a new name, Samantha Cameron. That's how I got my last name." Alex explained.

John and Sarah both shared a look, this was getting stranger by the second. Suddenly Sarah's phone rang.

She glanced down at it, 'Derek.'

She stepped aside, and hit the answer button, then clicked another button, to show that it was her.

"Sarah, you there?" Derek's voice came over the speaker.

"Derek... I don't care what you're doing... drop it, and get your ass over here. We need to talk!" Sarah stated forcefully.

"Okay... I guess I'll just tell you what I found when I get there." Derek replied.

"You do that." Sarah stated, as she hung up and looked over at Alex.

The young soldier simply stared back, Sarah could just barely make out lines under his skin, she could see then in his cheeks. 'Bio-enhancements...' Sarah thought, 'this is going to be interesting...'

_Okay so that's it for chapter one... let me know what you think... I'm currently working on another story, along with this one, so You're going to have to wait about a weak before you can expect any updates. By the way a lot of my inspiration comes from Terminator: Salvation, as well as the rumored story behind Terminator 5. Anyway let me know what you think... later!_


	2. Chapter 2

_So... since this is what I'm famous for... I figure I should keep up my trend... in the beginning I like to release the first few chapters, in quick succession, and since I'm going to keep these chapter shorter then my other story... I think it should be easy to keep up the pace._

_**Another, Insane Choice.**_

The Mission, The Problem

"Fuck!" Derek stated, angrily as he listened to Alex's explanation.

"So... If SkyNet can send, any machine that it wants... where are they?" John asked, after a moment of silence.

"Judgment day needs to happen. SkyNet can't risk, it not happening, if it doesn't, that means that SkyNet will have to face the full of humanities armies. So... my guess, they're in hiding. Protecting SkyNet assets, the uncovered metal can't be seen by humans until the war begins." Alex explained. It made sense, if machines were seen running around killing people, it would definitely make humans rethink their decision to build an artificial intelligence.

"Even if they're not attacking us directly, SkyNet machines could easily begin construction of automated factories in preparation for Judgment day." Cameron, added in a monotone voice.

"Yeah... John sent other teams back to deal with that." Alex told them. By now he had removed his snow cap, and he sat comfortably on the couch, the Connor's stood around him, boring him with questions.

John analyzed the future soldier... a part of him, wondered what his connection was to this guy. First it was Kile Reese his father. Then it was the T-800, that was sent back. Then Cameron, then Derek, and now this guy. Everyone he sent back had a connection to him in the future. John wondered, what kind of connection he had to this guy.

Alex, had pale skin, and bleached blonde hair, he looked almost albino. His hair was shoulder length and he had green eyes. John sat next to the future soldier, examining him more closely. John could just barely make out what looked like lines on his face, he could see them where the skin was thin, like on Alex's forehead and around his eyes. Alex glanced over and noticed John staring at him. "Sub-dermal fiber-weave." Alex said with a smile.

"What is it for?" John asked, not caring that he was staring.

"It's like armor. It's basically a mesh of little strands of bio-organic material, that are interlaced together, they are interwoven so finely, that they act like bullet proof armor. Not to mention, it's heat resistant. This weave covers most of my body... it's like I'm wearing modern body armor, all over my body. It's everywhere except for my chest, stomach and back." Alex explained.

"Wouldn't you want it to protect those areas?" John asked, slightly confused.

"Yeah... instead of the fiber weave, I have sub-dermal armor plates, protecting my organs. This stuff basically, makes me as tough as a T-X. Though it's highly experimental, and the process of installing it, is irreversible." Alex answered with a grin.

"T-X?" Sarah asked with a tilt of her head.

"Highly advanced, anti-terminator, terminator. Heavily armored, they posses on-board weapons, as well as nano-technological constrictors. Their combat chassis can change size, and they are covered in a mimetic polyalloy." Alex stated, coolly.

"Anti terminator? That is bullshit!" Sarah growled, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth.

"...And it can change shape like the T-1000?" John asked, remembering what the T-800 told him about the T-1000.

"Yes, it is highly adaptive and difficult to create. I know for a fact that there are at least seven, here now." Alex informed them.

"Seven! Are you serious?" Derek, asked as he ran his hands over his head.

"How do we stop them?" John asked, in a serious voice.

"You don't." Alex replied, giving John a look. "I've been asked to baby sit you. Until your ball and chain, enters your life. Then I'm under orders to move you and her to a safe place." Alex added.

"What?" John asked giving him a look.

"Cameron isn't a combat model. A T-X would wipe the floor with her, and... worst case scenario, it would use it's nano-technological constrictors to take control of her CPU, and use her to hunt you down. That would be bad... and what makes it worse, is Cameron has intimate knowledge of Connor's activities in the future, the T-X would gain access to that info." Alex explained.

"Don't let Cameron fight the super robots. I get it! But we've made the decision to fight. We aren't going to run. Not again." John told him.

"How is that working out for you? Fighting?" Alex asked, with a tilt of his head.

"You tell me." John replied, giving him a forceful look.

"I don't think you wanna know." Alex responded, with a sigh.

"We're winning. You're the first person from the future to ever say that to me. Until now... all I've heard about, is a war without an end. Now all of a sudden we're winning? We must be doing something right." John countered.

"Nine days." Alex stated.

"What?" John asked, glancing over at his mother. She gave him a confused look and they both turned back to Alex.

"In nine days... Derek Reese will die." Alex said in a cold voice, his eyes locked on John.

John recoiled slightly, and slowly glanced at his uncle, who was staring at Alex with a distant look.

"July 14, 2011. Sarah Connor is terminated by a T-X infiltrator, that then assumes her appearance and spends the next forty-two days hunting you down. At the end of that forty-two day hunt, Cameron Philips is killed, while destroying the T-X." Alex explained coldly. "Do you really think that fighting is the best course of action?"

John, let out a sigh. He felt anger, anger and despair, begin to well up inside of him.

Sarah placed her hands on the small of her back, and stared up at the ceiling.

"Nine days... huh." Derek said in a low voice as he bit the inside of his cheek.

"Can we stop it? Stop them from dying?" John asked, he sounded like he was in pain.

"I don't know. Look... I'm not here to stop you from fighting. You're John Connor and it's your choice, and I'll follow you no matter what you choose. I'm simply informing you of my mission. Once I determine who you future wife is. I am under orders to move you and her to safe place, until the bombs fall. Whether or not your family is with us... is up to you." Alex finished explaining.

"You... know about Derek?" John asked, glancing at his uncle, then at his mother.

"You told me a lot of things... John. Like I said... I've known you since I was born. My mother is one of your closest advisers... and friends. I don't think even she knows about your connection to the Reese's or even that you had a wife. You trusted me with this info though, and I don't really know why. You told me things over the years... but it was only when I was older did you start to open up about yourself. You told me about Sarah... and your father, Kyle. You told me about Derek, and Cameron... about how you named my mother, after your protector. You taught me how to fight... and how to lead, you told me about your wife... and children..." Alex trailed off, he had a distant look on his face.

"Children...?" John asked, with a bewildered look.

"... You're a chatty drunk... you know that Connor... never used to drink... then we started to win. Once we started to win, we started to celebrate... when we celebrate we get drunk... I can't even recall the number of times, we've sat alone sipping back moonshine, listening to the sound of cheering, echoing through the base." Alex stated with a faraway look.

"Do you posses the ability to destroy these T-X units?" Cameron asked, after a moment.

"Connor sent back one-hundred and eleven of us. He also supplied us with about forty tons of weapons and ammo. I have at my disposal, enough firepower, to turn California, into a third world state." Alex boasted, with a grin.

"Forty tons and over a hundred guys. Connor's not taking any chances with this Op." Derek commented.

"They are all separated into eleven squads of ten, all with different missions. Mine however is more important, and they are all under strict orders to drop what they are doing and come to my aid if I call them." Alex explained.

"What are they doing?" Sarah asked, her eyes narrow.

"Hunting SkyNet forces. They are waging a covert war against the machines. One hundred men, ten cyborgs, plus me." Alex added.

"Ten! What models?" John asked, curiously.

"Five 800's, three 888's, one 1000, and one 1100." Alex stated, off the top of his head.

"Holy shit..." Derek stated breathlessly, "... that's a lot of metal."

"You said I sent back a T-1000?" John asked, not believing it.

"His name is Fred... he likes birds." Alex replied, innocently.

"What about the T-1100? I've never even heard of that." Sarah, interjected.

"Highly advanced on-board AI. They were used by SkyNet as mobile, command platforms. While in proximity with other machines the T-1100, can utilize on board sensors and other equipment to send data to the terminators and increase their combat effectiveness and battlefield awareness. They aren't combat models, and are physically weak compared to other models. Their strength comes from their armor, they are small, but heavily armored and capable taking a pounding before going down. They can also hack into freed, machines and corrupt their CPU's it takes some time and the machine is aware of it, but given a few minutes they can cause one of ours to go berserk... Bastards!" Alex explained, from his tone, he obviously, confronted one of these things before.

The group, stood in silence for a few moments as they thought about, all that they had learned. After a few moments Sarah finally sat on the couch next to Alex, and locked eyes with him. "Explain to me... in as much detail as you can, what your mission is. What can you tell me about John's wife? Do you know when they meet? Did John give you a name? Tell me everything." Sarah ordered, her voice firm, and focused.

"My mission is to locate John Connor, and wait until he crosses paths with the woman who is to be his wife. John didn't give me a name, but he told me she was 'special' and that I'd know her when I see her." Alex began to explain, though stopped and glanced at John. He gave him a look before letting out a sigh and continuing, "...As for when they meet... One drunken night, John Connor told me about the first time he and his wife... ever... um... you know." Alex scratched his, as he tried to explain, the fact that this was John Connor's mother, had not escaped him, and this whole conversation had quickly became awkward.

"Do you really want to hear this?" Alex asked, as he rubbed his temples.

"No... but I need to make sure that the Tin Miss, doesn't try to murder this girl, when she shows up. So it's best that I know everything." Sarah replied in a stale tone.

Derek let out a single laugh, as John just hung his head, in embarrassment.

"You're heart rate is elevated, John. Are you nervous?" Cameron asked.

"No... just embarrassed." John answered with a sigh.

"Why? From what he had told us so far, future John was only explaining the first time that he ever engaged in sexual intercourse with his future wife." Cameron asked, tilting her head to emphasize her confusion.

John let out a sigh, as he continued to stare at the floor.

"Look... if you wanna step out, go ahead, but we need to know everything that future you told him about your wife, every last detail." Sarah told him.

John let out another sigh, before shaking his head, "No, I need to hear this too. Every last detail."

"Alright. Keep it PG, okay." Sarah stated, addressing Alex.

Alex nodded before beginning, "John Connor spoke of a woman, he called the most beautiful woman in the world. He told me that he was seventeen the first time they made love... He told me that, for a moment, while he was in her arms. There was no SkyNet, no Judgment day, just him and her. He said that she had the perfect body... almost like it was made specifically to fit his tastes. It was surreal whenever he was with her, he told me that he felt 'safe', whenever she was around. He was drunk while he explained this to me... but I was able to understand most of it... but there was a moment... right at the end of his explanation, where he sobered up. I swear he looked right through me and said, 'I now know what my mother meant, when she told me about the few hours she spent with my father. I now understand what she meant when she said that they loved a lifetimes worth.' I don't know what Connor meant, all I do know, is that whomever this woman is... John loves her very much." Alex finished telling the story, and stared off for a moment.

"He didn't tell you anything else?" Derek asked after a moment of silence.

"The next day, four of Connor's personal guard barged into my room and dragged me into high command. They brought me right to Connor's office, and he asked me about what we talked about the prior night. He later informed me that, any information regarding his wife, was considered beyond top secret. So naturally I had to swear upon the bones of three billion lives that I would never speak of it again, or they would tear out my tongue." Alex finished with a laugh.

"Hey... have I met you before?" Derek asked, as he listened to Alex's laugh.

"Good ear, lieutenant! The last time I saw you, I was only thirteen." Alex replied looking at Derek.

"When was this?" Derek asked trying to recall when exactly he met this guy.

"Warington fields. 2026." Alex stated with a grin.

Derek stared at him for a moment, before realization struck him. "Mercury!"

"Damn straight!" Alex replied.

"Holy shit! You grew up." Derek said with a smile, as he reached out to shake Alex's hand.

Alex stood and shook his hand firmly. "It sure is good to see you again, Lieutenant."

"I take it that means that you two know each other?" Sarah guessed as she watched the two shake hands.

"Yeah... he was one of the kid soldiers, that would often sneak onto the battlefield and cause some chaos for the machines. Alex here was one of the best, he was just a kid last time I saw him, but I'd recognize that laugh anywhere." Derek explained.

"Missed having you and Kyle around to call me names... what was it that Kyle said to Perry after we first met... I was a 'waste of strategic assets and should be thrown into the stockade'." Alex stated, with a shit eating grin.

"Well you did, lead us into an ambush." Derek commented.

"I was twelve... what the fuck were you expecting?" Alex asked.

"Yeah well... I didn't hear him complaining much after you overcharged his plasma rifle for him." Derek replied with a laugh.

"Shit... He loved that fucking thing. I don't think I've ever seen a man take the loss of his weapon so badly." Alex joked.

"Kyle... got attached... that's just how he was." Derek stated, he still held a smile, but there was obvious sadness in his voice.

The two men stood in silence, both thinking about their fallen comrade, and brother.

After a moment, John finally decided to break the silence. "So, why did they call you Mercury?"

"They called me that because, just like the planet, I spent way to much time, playing with fire. It was kinda lame, but it grew on me. That's what everyone calls me, only Connor and my mother, call me Alex." He replied with a small smile.

"We need to take a step back... … … I think we need to leave." Sarah stated, suddenly.

"Mom! We can't leave... if I'm supposed to meet up with this girl, then I need to stay where I am, otherwise I might never meet her." John started to argue.

"I'm not saying we move to another state, or even another town. I'm saying we need to find a new home. These three machines walked right up to our front door, it was that easy for them. We need to move somewhere else." Sarah explained.

"She's right. This position is not tactically sound, any longer. We should move." Cameron agreed.

"I assume you're going to be sticking close?" Sarah asked looking at Alex.

"Yes... though I've lived in shit holes my whole life. I don't need comfort. Find a place for yourselves, and I can camp out on the couch or something." Alex responded.

"Alex... you said you brought back weapons... Do you think we could borrow some?" Derek asked, eying him curiously.

"Sure... like I said, we brought enough weapons and ammo, to effectively arm over a thousand soldiers, for at least two years. We've got more then enough to spare. I'll take you to the safe house, my comrades set up, and we'll arm up." Alex replied.

"Good... a good old fashioned rifle is nice... but plasma will drop those metal bastards, with ease." Derek stated with a grin.

"John, Cameron, go online and look up new places that we can live, when you get the chance." Sarah ordered.

John nodded and glanced over at Cameron, his eyes drifted past her and he noticed the vacant seat at the end of the couch.

"Where is Riley?" John asked, glancing around the room.

"She left, while we were questioning Alex. I think she wanted to avoid a confrontation." Cameron stated.

"Why didn't you say anything?" John asked, as he stood and pulled out his phone.

"She doesn't need to be here. Luckily, she left before she overheard our plans to move." Cameron replied.

"John." Sarah stated, giving him a look.

"I know!" John replied as he stepped out of the room and began to dial Riley's number.

"So... it was my laugh that tipped you off, to who I really was?" Alex asked Derek.

"Yeah... like I said, I'd remember that laugh anywhere. What was it that Connor said to you after, Baker's field, that caused you and Kile to fall to the ground and laugh your asses off?" Derek asked with a smile.

Alex thought for a moment, before realization struck him, "That was when I single handedly turned the whole battle in our favor."

"Don't be an asshole, what did Connor say to you?" Derek asked again, keeping his smile.

"Command chimed in and asked what the hell I thought I was doing. I ignored them and shouted 'Damn, I'm good'. Then Connor chimed in over the radio... I think he said something like... 'Stop show boating you little bastard, and get back to work!'..." Alex recalled.

"...And then you turned around and shouted towards the broken remains of that AA tower, 'Go home! Let's not turn this rape into murder!', What did Connor say after that?" Derek asked recalling the event.

"He said, Sargent Reese, if Mercury doesn't stop bragging, I want you to back hand the little piss ants, teeth out." Alex stated with a grin.

"I don't think I've ever seen Kile laugh so hard." Derek stated with a smile as he shook his head.

"I know what you mean. Damn, my mother gave me an earful when I got back to base." Alex giggled.

"Connor chew you out too?" Derek asked, a wide grin on his face.

"Holy shit, did he give me an earful. I don't think I've ever seen a man, so carefully caught between anger and pride, before." Alex stated as he recalled that day.

"You and John were close, I take it?" Sarah asked, she had been listening intently to the story, it was strange to see Derek so comfortable around someone.

"... … … John Connor was the closest thing I ever had to a father. He's my mothers best friend." Alex replied with a distant look.

Sarah cocked an eyebrow, as a question crossed her mind, Alex saw the look on her face, and new immediately what she was thinking.

"This is a picture of my mother." Alex stated, as he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a photo. He offered it to Sarah, who took it and gave it a quick analysis. The woman in the photo was young, she had pale skin, with short brown hair, she looked a little like Cameron, but with slightly less defined cheek bones, and smaller eyes. "Her and John are just friends, besides, Connor only met my mother after Judgment Day, so she can't be the woman, we're looking for." Alex explained.

"How can you be sure?" Sarah asked handing him back the picture, "Maybe John made up a story about how they met." Sarah offered, as an explanation.

"Believe me... I've done my homework. Samantha Cameron, doesn't exist. Not now... I've looked, John gave my mother that name... and if they were both lying to cover something up, my mother has done nothing to prove it. She says she can't remember what it was like before the war... if she's lying, she's damn good at it, cause she's never slipped up." Alex informed them.

"Right well... that's one name to check off the list." Sarah stated dryly.

"Riley's not answering." John stated as he walked back into the room.

Sarah let out a groan, and brought her hands up to her face... this was going to be a long day.

_K theirs chapter 2 hope you like it... I know it's starting slow... but I've got to establish the story.. so give it some time... ... Alex, is not main character of this story... he is simply another character, like John, Cameron, Derek, and Sarah. Anyway just thought I'd clarify... got to work on my other story... so it will be a few days before I update again... let me know what you think. Later!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Okay... so I'm moving on to chapter 3, sry it took so long, been working on my other story. Now that I have free time, it's time to work on this one._

_**Another, Insane Choice**_

The Arsenal

John stared at the passing scenery as they drove out of the city. He was in one of their trucks with, Derek and his mother, they were following Cameron and Alex who were in the truck in front of them.

The Connor's, namely Sarah and Derek, decided it was a good idea to go deal with the weapons situation first and deal with Riley later. John wasn't happy about it, but he knew they were right, besides, he knew deep down that Riley wouldn't say anything.

Sarah, Derek, and John had driven in silence for almost an hour now, it turns out, that the safe house that the resistance had set up, was outside of town. It was right about now, that Sarah felt comfortable enough to begin questioning Derek about Alex.

"So... how well do you know this guy?" Sarah asked, keeping her eyes on the road.

"Kyle and I knew him when he was a kid. We met him when he was twelve... the last time I saw him was 2026, about five months before I was sent back..." Derek paused, he had a far away look in his eyes. John quickly took notice of his uncles look, in the reflection of the rear-view mirror.

"They may have had a rocky introduction... but Kyle loved the kid, loved him like a little brother. Alex was always a pain in my ass, he was cocky, stubborn, and always thought he was right. The thing is... he usually was. Besides being one tough, brave, and crazy son of a bitch, Alex is a genius. You taught him how to reprogram the metal..." Derek finished, addressing John directly.

"He sounds too good to be true." Sarah commented, dryly.

"That kid could do some crazy shit. In the fight we were talking about earlier, the one where he got chewed out by his mother, afterwords. We were about to lose that fight... We were attacking a SkyNet automated factory, that was producing T-800's, and triple eights. We couldn't advance any further because of a SkyNet, anti-air tower. We all felt it in our bones, Connor was about to order the retreat, then Mercury shows up, and begins trying to talk Kyle into handing over his explosives. The two fought for about sixty seconds before Kyle finally relented, we all thought the two of them were crazy, but before I could stop him, Mercury, hopped over the cover we were behind, and began dodging and weaving his way through the debris that littered the battlefield. We knew no man could make it across the two hundred meter gap, between us and the tower, but the thing was, Mercury wasn't a man, he was a kid, and he could hide under pieces of ruble, and squeeze through small openings to avoid the machines..." Derek told the story of that day, he had a smirk on his face the whole time.

"About ten minute went by, when suddenly the tower exploded. I was on the horn in a flash, telling command that one of the towers was down. Forty seconds later, our birds used the opening to destroy the other towers... and then Connor had them rain fire down on the factory..." Derek continued to explain.

"Can we trust him? That's what I'm asking you. Can we trust him?" Sarah interrupted.

"If you're asking, can he be trusted, to keep John safe, then yes. If you're asking if he can be trusted to follow the rules, and to help us fight SkyNet, hell yes. But if you're asking if you or I can trust him, then no." Derek replied. Both John and Sarah glanced at him with odd looks.

"Alex 'Mercury' Cameron, is loyal to one man... and one man only. He trusts John's judgment over all others. He may do what you or I tell him to do, but just like the metal, if John orders him to do otherwise he will. Alex has and always will, be fanatically loyal to John Connor. So I guess the real answer to whether or not we can trust him, is whether or not we can trust John." Derek finished, glancing back at his nephew who simply let out a huff and returned to staring out the window.

Sarah refocused her attention on the road, as their lead, suddenly turned onto a gravel road that led into the desert. They drove in silence for another twenty minutes, when suddenly a large warehouse came into view. This place was definitely hard to find, if you didn't know about the gravel road, you would never find it.

As they drove closer, Sarah could just barely make out, figures standing on the roof of the warehouse, they didn't look to be moving, they just stood there in the harsh sunlight. They were able to drive right up to the building, Sarah could make out, a single guard sitting on a chair, right next to the only door.

The group hopped out of their vehicles, and stood in place as Alex approached the man. After a moment he waved the rest of the group over.

"So... what are you doing back, Mercury?" The large man asked with a smirk. "I thought Connor sent you on some sort of top secret mission."

"Well Rick, I figure I might need some bigger guns." Alex replied sarcastically.

"Who are these people?" The large man asked.

"That's Cameron, infiltrator, model: Who gives a fuck. Then we have Lieutenant Derek Reese, jumped back in 2027. Then... we have some celebrities." Alex finished with a smirk.

Rick examined Sarah and John, his face blank, after a moment he grinned and glanced at Alex. "You know they're going to get swarmed in there, right?" Rick asked, with a snicker.

"Not if you keep your mouth shut, lard ass." Alex replied, sarcastically.

"Get your ass inside, before I back-hand you." Rick replied with a stale look, as he banged on the door twice.

Alex just grinned, as the door swung open, revealing a thin looking man with big eyes. "Hey Alex. Get in here." The man stated, eying the Connors suspiciously.

The group filed in, Sarah immediately scanned the room, it was a single room, forty by forty feet, and it was set up like a bar, there was about thirty people in the room, all different ages, and races. Each one returned Sarah's look of suspicion.

Alex scanned the room as well, his gaze fell on an older man standing behind the bar. After a moment Alex began to approach the man, the Connor's stuck close, each one scanning the room.

"Colonel Rork." Alex stated with a salute as he reached the bar.

"I didn't expect to see you back here so soon, Major Cameron." The Colonel replied, with a stale look. "Who are your friends?"

"Well one's, Charlie-Delta, One-Five-Seven-Nine." Alex replied in a serious look.

The Colonel's eyes widened slightly, as Alex motioned towards John. "I see... What can I do for you?"

"They've got their own plans, and agendas, my mission is still a no-go, so I'm going to help them out. We need weapons, and ammo." Alex explained.

The Colonel eyed him for a second, before nodding. "Take what you need, but leave the MF-12's, we need those." The Colonel stated, motioning to behind the bar.

Alex nodded, and led the Connor's behind the bar where two refrigerators sat. Alex grabbed the handle of one and twisted, opening it. Inside, it was revealed to be hollowed out, and it led into a large room that housed a shitload of large crates, and a few tables. The others quickly followed after Alex, as he stepped through the opening.

"Alright... let's get what we want, and get out of here before we overstay our welcome." Alex ordered.

"Aren't these guys friends of yours?" Sarah asked eying him.

"Yeah... but their army... I'm FM Brigade." Alex replied, as he walked over to a crate. After a moment he felt Sarah's eye's boring into him, and glanced back with a smile. "Friendly rivalry, Like Marines and Army."

"Friendly Rivalry?" John asked, that's not really the kind of thing you expect to survive the apocalypse.

"FM operates, as single units or in small teams... we're the elite shock troopers. The army's got this grudge against us, because a lot of people think we get special treatment." Alex explained.

"Do you?" Derek asked, as he opened one of the crates.

"Depends... like I said we operate in small groups. It's easier to reward small groups, then it is to reward an army." Alex replied, with an odd look on his face.

"So... what kind of weapons do we want." Sarah asked, as Alex opened another crate.

"Plasma and electromagnetic based, are what we want. I'll show you what to look for... Some of these weapons we can't use." Alex stated as he began pulling out greyish, bullpup looking rifles, and started loading them.

"Why?" John asked, as Alex handed him one of the rifles, John made a face as he felt the weight of the rifle, it was slightly heavier then it appeared.

"Some of the weapons here, are either PA or Cyborg based. We aren't strong enough to use them." Alex explained.

"PA?" Sarah asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Powered Armor." Alex replied, as he pulled more rifles out of the crate.

John perked his eye brows, in interest, "Powered armor. Are you serious?" John asked with a grin.

"Yeah. Three suits were sent back with us. Highly armored, weight is about two tons. Equipped with on board sensors, and electromagnetic equipment, each one has dual slots, for anything up to a T-1000." Alex explained in a plain tone of voice, not realizing how interesting the subject really was.

"Dual slots... like you can plug in one of their chips?" John asked, suddenly very interested in the subject.

"Two actually... Each powered suit, can house a pilot, plus two chips, to control sensors, and equipment, along with offering tactical analysis, and battlefield assessments. A trained pilot in powered armor, along with two cyborgs providing back-up, is an incredible pain in the ass for SkyNet. Some of the weapons in these crates, can only be used by someone in power armor, or a combat model, cyborg." Alex told them, as he handed two more rifles to John.

"So, what are we getting?" Derek asked as he opened more crates.

"I'd say... Seven rifles, five shotguns, three DMR's, two sniper rifles, six PDW's, ten handguns, a few toys to play with, and something with a little... kick." Alex replied.

"I like the sound of that." Derek stated with a grin.

"So...What am I looking at here?" John asked, as he examined one of the 'bullpup' rifles.

"Muzzelite MZ14 Bullpup. Fires superheated plasma rounds. Five hundred meter range, one of those puppies with drop a terminator in one hit. Similar reload fashion as any bullpup rifle, eighty rounds a mag, they got full-auto and single shot." Alex explained.

"Great." Sarah stated, as she walked over to John, he handed her the rifle, as she began her own analysis. After a moment she pulled the magazine out and looked at the rounds inside. The rounds were loaded standard, but the bullets looked unique, they didn't have a point to them, and each one had three lines that separated the bullet into four equal parts from front to back.

Cameron noticed Sarah staring oddly at the rounds and decided to clarify. "Each round is loaded into a secondary chamber behind the firing chamber. In the secondary chamber, a piece of the bullet is broken off and passed into the firing chamber, there an electrical charge is introduced into the front of the round, that begins a reaction, that causes the round to melt. As this is happening the bullet is accelerated down the barrel, and by the time it exits the barrel the round has become a molten ball of superheated metal. The round doesn't lose any of it's mass, so it still hit's with the same force. It's mock plasma based weaponry, the resistance designed them off of SkyNet's actual plasma based weapons."

Sarah glanced at her then back at the magazine, she kind of understood what the machine was talking, about, but most of the technicalities of it all were probably way over her head, Sarah decided to simply nod, to show that she understood.

"Then we have these bad boys." Alex chimed in, as he finished loading another gun, John glanced over and immediately recognized it as a shotgun, it actually looked a lot like the shotguns, from the 'Halo' games that he would play from time to time, though these were slightly thinner, and had retractable stocks.

"XR-6 assault shotgun. eight rounds, operates on a similar basis to the MZ14, the only difference is that the reaction that causes the round to melt is much slower, so that the metal shards still hit, but they continue to melt even after the initial impact of the round. Plus the reaction begins at the back of the round, instead of the front and it occurs while the shot is traveling down the barrel, instead of when it's in the chamber. This gun is good up to thirty feet, anymore then than and the rounds are molten slag, they may be able to melt the machines, but that takes time. A word of warning, unless you're a sadistic bastard, don't use one of these against a human being, at more then thirty feet, they act like Dragon's breath." Alex finished with a disgusted look.

"I'm guessing a lot of these weapons aren't household friendly?" Sarah asked, with a tilt of her head.

"Yep... These babies will burn your damn house down if you let them." Alex replied with a grin.

"Then we have the M8-6 Designated Marksman Rifle, same concept as the MZ14, eighteen rounds, effective up to one kilometer." Alex stated as he pulled out a rifle that looked like the bullpup's except it had a longer barrel and a high-powered scope.

"These weapons will prove very effective against the advanced terminator models." Cameron commented as she began inspecting the sights on one of the bullpup rifles.

"They are quite effective, though I would be weary of using the DMR's against any T-X units... the rifles fire superheated rounds that are hot enough to detonate a T-X's experimental plasma based fuel cell. The resulting explosion is almost always enough to level about four square blocks." A mysterious voice began explained. The Connors all quickly glanced over at the entrance into the secret room, and saw a thin looking man staring at them with a small smile.

"Hi Fred." Alex stated without looking up.

"Hello, Major Cameron, are you finding everything okay?" Fred asked keeping his smile.

"Yes, thank you." Alex replied glancing over at him.

John and Sarah both eyed Fred, cautiously, this was the T-1000 that Alex had spoke of.

Cameron did a quick scan of this new individual. Her scans picked up that he was not human, but that he didn't have an endoskeleton either. She tilted her head slightly and stared at him for a moment, after a second he stared back.

The two stared at each other for a moment before Cameron simply stated, "Thank you for the warning."

"You are very welcome." Fred replied. He had taken the appearance of a young Asian man, probably in his early twenties.

Next we have the Mk. 2 HVRG or high velocity rail gun." Alex stated as he lifted a large weapon out of a crate. The weapon was about five feet long, it was rectangular in shape, it didn't have a lot of round parts to it, it was all black, and the front had two three foot long rectangular pieces sitting on top of each other, each one had a row of metal prongs that stuck out in-between the two. If you looked at it from the side, I looked like an alligator mouth.

"A rail gun? Now I'm sure you're pulling my leg." John stated with a shake of his head, as he walked over to Alex.

"Okay, now it's my turn to ask, what the fuck is a Rail Gun?" Derek asked, as he set two more bullpup rifles on a nearby table.

"It's a weapon that utilizes electricity to accelerate a slug to a fraction of the speed of light. They were considered science fiction until the resistance captured one on an abandoned naval vessel that had been sunk in the Mediterranean. It was designed by the U.S. navy before judgment day, it's existence is classified, both by the Navy, now, and the resistance in the future." Cameron explained.

"She's right. The cyborgs helped us make these, there portable rail guns. These babies are what General Connor and I like to call, 'The Finger of God'. These guns cannot be fired while standing and actually have to be anchored to the ground before they can be used. At five miles this baby will put a round, directly on target, with zero bullet drop, in about 5/8's a second. It's widely considered by the federation to be the most powerful hand-held weapon ever made." Alex stated with a wide grin.

"Holy shit." John stated with a shake of his head.

"'Holy shit' is right." Alex replied tossing a piece of metal to John. John caught it, but was surprised to feel it's weight, the piece of metal was about four inches long, about half and inch wide, and it was shaped like a pentagon, it weighed two pounds.

"Is this what that thing fires?" John asked as he passed the round to Derek, who also adopted a look of surprise when he felt it's weight.

"Yep... it's a single shot, reload rifle, but each shot hits with a force sixteen times greater then that of a modern day anti-material rifle. No one knows exactly how far they can fire and still be useful, since no engagement has ever taken place over a distance greater than like, six miles. The cyborg that created and tested the gun, believed that at a range of twenty five miles the slug would hit with the same force as a modern day rpg." Alex stated, as he reached into the crate and pulled out a second one.

"Jesus." Sarah said with a scratch of her head.

"After that, we come to these little bastards." Alex told them as he pulled out a small sub-machine gun. "These are the LR-4 LVRG, or low velocity rail gun. Same concept though these guys don't pack the same kind of punch. Theirs one hundred and twenty rounds in each mag. We've dubbed these babies 'bullet hoses' since they like to spray lead down range. They've got barely any kick to them, and yet are strong enough to shred a T-888 at close range." The gun was shaped like a combination of a P90 and an AK-74u the back had a similar shape to the P90, in terms of the magazine/stock combination, while the front was almost identical in all aspects to the AK-74u except that the barrel was shaped like a miniature version of the larger rail gun they were just shown, it also had a fore-grip for stability.

"I like the sound of that." Sarah commented as Alex handed her one.

"Then we've got these." Alex stated as he pulled out some handguns that looked exactly like his. "There affective up to one hundred meters, thirty rounds, and I don't think I need to tell how effective they are."

"That's it for guns... what else we taking?" Sarah asked tilting her.

"We'll take a few dozen EMP grenades and a few mines, for good measure. These guys will put a T-888 into reboot easily, but where they're really useful is against T-1000's, put one of these at their feet, and the bastard will turn into goo." Alex explained.

"He's right, EMP based weapons are extraordinarily affective against the T-1000 model. More so then even a rail gun." Fred added, he still had his smile.

"Finally... we've got something to use as a last resort..." Alex told them as he lifted a small brief case out of one of the containers.

"What's in there?" John asked, eying the box.

"General Connor figured out how to make portable mini-nukes..." Alex began, the Connor's all glanced at him wide eyed. "They're made from jury-rigging one of the cyborgs hydrogen fuel cells. The case is shielded so don't worry about radiation or anything. Inside is a detonater and or a timer. You can use either or both. The bomb explodes with a similar amount of force as a cruise missile, theirs also a nice mushroom cloud to fuel your nightmares. Like I said... last resort." Alex finished as he gently set the case on the table.

"I don't know how I feel about having one of those in the house with us." Derek stated eying the briefcase.

"Have you ever seen one of those before?" Sarah asked, her eyes too, were focused on the case.

"Yep... John Connor once infiltrated a SkyNet work camp, freed all the prisoners and then blew the whole place using a make-shift bomb he had made by setting off about a dozen of those things, that's some powerful stuff, and you don't wanna fuck with it." Derek replied.

"Well... since you know how to respect it, it's living with you." Sarah stated, after a moment. John simply rolled his eyes as his uncle let out a sigh.

"Hey... you guys want to help out with these?" Alex asked, they all glanced over and saw him standing in front of a wall of sandbags.

"What is that for?" Sarah asked as they approached.

"Blocks the head from the plasma guns, the powered armor and the bombs. Theirs a garage door behind it... so let's pull all this down, back up one of the cars, and get this shit loaded." Alex explained.

"Sounds like a plan." Sarah stated, as her and the others began grabbing sandbags. Alex began to assist as well, when he suddenly noticed Fred still standing in the middle of the room, watching them curiously.

"You want to help out?" He asked, eying Fred oddly.

"I just remembered why I came in here." Fred said suddenly.

"Why is that, Fred?" Alex asked, returning to work.

"Your mother is here." Fred stated. The Connor's quickly glanced at Alex, who made a face and then rolled his eyes and turned to face Fred.

"Why is she here?" Alex asked, curiously.

"We have a problem..." Fred replied, his smile finally vanishing. Alex glanced at the Connor's then back at Fred before finally making a move to follow after the liquid metal machine. The rest of the Connor's followed close behind, eager to hear about this new development...

_Okay done... sry a lot of exposition, but I felt I should get most of the new weapons out of the way so that I don't have to keep explaining them later... anyway look forward to the next chapter soon... and I appreciate all of the reviews you guys are giving me. Sry for the slow start... but I've got this big story planned out and I kind of have to explain some stuff before diving in, otherwise it won't make much sense._


	4. Chapter 4

_Okay so on to chapter four, sorry I've been away for a while... I've been really busy with my other story and with work and stuff. Hopefully I'll be able to get through the last of the exposition and finally begin with the actual story. Sorry it's been kind of a slow start, but what can you do? Anyway let's begin._

_**Another, Insane Choice.**_

Mother Dearest.

Derek and Sarah shared a look as Alex followed Fred out of the room, 'A problem... Great, that's exactly what we needed.' They both thought as they exited back into the bar.

"So, my mother's here." Alex stated to the Colonel as they exited.

"Yeah... I was informed about six seconds after you walked into the armory." The old Colonel at the bar retorted, as they walked past.

All the while Cameron stuck close to John, scanning each individual in the room, there were at least four cyborgs plus 'Fred' in the room with them. Cameron's sensors were firing off, warning her that if this turned into a fight, the Connor's chance of survival was less then three percent. As they walked around the bar, and into the open room, Cameron wondered to herself why that percentage made her feel so odd, it was almost as if she felt... 'uneasy'.

Fred led the group into a side room, where a young woman sat, she must have been only in her late twenties or early thirties, thought they all recognized her immediately, as Samantha Cameron. She was sitting on a couch resting her feet, unlike all the other resistance fighters, that they had met, she looked different, she didn't look tired or warn out, if fact she looked like she had just come back from a relaxing vacation.

Sarah, Derek, John, and Cameron all analyzed the woman, she looked incredibly young considering she had a thirty year old son. She looked a lot like Cameron, but with less defined features and smaller eyes. Her brunette hair was cut short and was ruffled, in a bob cut, it barely hung past her mouth. She also had deep green eyes that matched her son's.

Cameron tilted her head curiously, something interesting was occurring, she couldn't analyze this woman. It was not as if, her scans came back without information, she couldn't run the scans at all. Cameron quickly began to run a few tests, on her hardware to make sure it wasn't malfunctioning, the quick scan she did came back clear, and yet she knew something had to be wrong.

Whenever Cameron focused on Samantha and began to scan her body, her analysis software would simply stop running. She tried four times and received the same result, she would get as far as identifying Samantha's body's physical features, but the moment her analysis went deeper, the scan would simply stop.

After the fourth failure Cameron ran an inquiry of her CPU to deduce what should be done next, this had never occurred before and she was having a hard time determining whether or not she should be suspicious or intrigued.

She settled on a verbal inquiry to try and deduce what could be happening.

"Why can't my systems run a scan of your body?" Cameron asked curiously.

The Connor's all glanced back at Cameron who stood at the back of the pack. "What do you mean Cameron?" John asked, with a confused look.

"I've run four separate scans of her body, and they have all ceased before a deep tissue scan can commence." Cameron clarified.

John glanced at Alex, who made a face and glanced at his mother, who looked up at all of them and smiled. "Well, I guess that means that it's a success." Samantha stated.

"What?" Alex asked as his mother rose to her feet.

"Something I was testing for the cyborgs, it's a sub-dermal, nano-tech device that can detect when a machine is scanning the body, it then emits a signal that cause's a single registry error within the cyborgs systems that causes the scan to crash and end without warning. Think of it like camouflage for the cyborgs to use while infiltrating SkyNet bases." Samantha explained as she tapped her chest plate.

"Oh... thank you for explaining." Cameron stated after a moment.

"So... General Connor finally sends me out on my own, and two weeks later, my mother is sent to check up on me." Alex stated with a bemused look.

"Oh, you wish you were that important Alexander." Samantha replied in a condescending tone.

"Damn mama that hurt." Alex wined playfully in response.

"I wish I could say that General Connor, sent me all this way to check up on his favorite pain in the ass, but sadly that's not the case." Samantha stated with a bemused look on her face.

"Well... in case you didn't notice I'm kinda busy, so if you could fill me in..." Alex stated after a moment, motioning to the Connor's.

"Derek... long time no see." Samantha stated with a happy smile.

"It's been to long, mam." Derek replied in a formal military fashion.

"Cameron... it's good to see you're still causing trouble for the Connor's." Samantha commented focusing her attention on the machine.

"Samantha Cameron, you were one of John's top advisers. If he sent you back then the situation must be dire." Cameron stated in a neutral tone.

Samantha simply made a face, and stared at Cameron for a few moments.

Cameron stared back, and the two locked eye for a moment before, Cameron finally broke the silence and stated, "I'm willing to continue the argument of who was named after who, if you wish."

Samantha let out a single laugh and shook her head with a smile, "That's an argument that will never end."

John glanced between the two curiously, before settling on Cameron, "What?" She asked when she noticed his eye on her.

"I thought Alex said that she was named after you." John stated, tilting his head in confusion.

"That is true... but John only gave me the name Cameron Philips before I jumped though the time displacement field... so in all actuality I was named after her." Cameron replied.

"It's a paradox... kinda. I was named after her, but she was named after me so that she could be sent back in time, so that one day I could be named after her... and... yeah." Samantha clarified.

"Cyborgs don't really understand the concept of a paradox..." Alex stated with a shake of his head.

"Yeah... I guess they wouldn't." John replied as he glanced back at Samantha who was now staring at him, smiling warmly.

"My god... to think you were ever that young." Samantha commented.

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked as she glanced between the two.

"The John Connor I know is a grizzled old bastard with tons of scars and insane combat skills. It's just hard to imagine that the handsome young teenager standing before me, will turn out to be such a ruthless warrior." Samantha commented with a far away look in her eyes.

"You have a thing for younger men?" Derek asked her, as he nudged John, who had a stale look on his face.

"Shut up." John replied with a huff.

"Aw... even now, I can still make you blush." Samantha chided, with a shake of her head, as she focused on Fred.

"Ignore my mother... when it comes to technology and machines, she's a savant, but when it comes to being socially acceptable... she's about four quarters short of a buck, if you know what I mean." Alex whispered to John, with a distasteful look.

"Thank you for bringing them here, Fred." Samantha thanked the liquid metal machine.

"You are most welcome Colonel. If that will be all, there is much I have to do." Fred stated as he departed.

"So what seems to be the problem, mother? Why did Connor send you back?" Alex asked as he took a seat next to his mother.

"SkyNet has been gathering, building, and producing large amounts of overcharged highly experimental plasma cells. We think that It's planning on powering something massive." Samantha explained, suddenly becoming very serious.

"What do you think it could be?" Alex asked, staring at his mother intently.

"We don't know, but with the number of machines SkyNet is sending back to this era, John assumes that whatever it is, is being built here, in this time." Samantha explained.

"Why are you telling me this? I've got my orders... Why not tell one of the other SkyNet hunting parties?" Alex asked with a tilt of his head.

"Even in his youth, John Connor always had a way of getting mixed up with SkyNet. I'm telling you this because, you need to know that something is amiss, and that you should watch your back. With the number of plasma cells, SkyNet is stockpiling, it could easily power the entirety of the United States for about ten years. So be careful. John sent me back to investigate and search for any signs of what SkyNet could be up to." Samantha, finished explaining. She had a look of worry about her.

"Fine... thanks for the warning, I'll make sure the Connor's stay out of trouble." Alex stated after a moment.

A second went by before Alex stood, and turned towards the door, he stopped before he had taken a step and glanced back at him mother, who simply stared at him with a small smile. Alex stared back at her for a moment before letting out a sigh, and leaning down to hug her. Samantha wrapped an arm around him and held him close, she glanced up at Sarah and smiled at her.

John watched as his mother smiled back, as he stood there, he felt as if something had just passed between the two mother's, almost like a certain understanding. John thought about asking his mother about it, but then it struck him that, it was probably a 'mom' thing, so he remained silent.

Samantha held her son for another moment before whispering something into his ear, and kissing his cheek.

"I know." Alex replied as he pulled away from the hug, a far away look in his eyes.

Alex turned and looked at the Connor's, he had this look about him, he almost looked sad. After a moment he brushed off the feeling and focused on Sarah, knowing instinctualy who was in charge of this little group.

"I don't know how long it will be, until John's future wife come's into the picture, but until that time, I'm yours. I'll help however I can." Alex stated.

Sarah stared at him for a moment, remembering what Derek said about him. About how he was loyal to only one person... Derek was right, when he said that whether or not they could trust Alex would be determined by whether or now they could trust John. After a moment she nodded, and decided on a course of action. "Let's get those weapons packed and head home. We have a lot to do." Sarah ordered.

Alex, Sarah, and Derek all departed from the room, John and Cameron lagged behind, John was staring at Samantha, unable to shake the feeling that he knew her from somewhere.

"What?" She asked, smiling at him.

"Sorry... it's just... I feel like I've met you before." John replied, shaking his head.

"I don't remember anything about what happened before the bombs fell, I assume that I lived in this area, because this is where I was found. I guess it's possible we've met before... you would know better them I." Samantha stated, as she got to her feet and began walking towards the door.

"Yeah... maybe." John stated, scratching his head as he turned to leave.

"Until next time, Cameron Philips." Samantha stated happily as she walked past her.

"Until next time, Samantha Cameron." Cameron replied.

John stopped as he exited, the way the two of them spoke just then... 'No.' John thought as he shook his head and continued after his mother and uncle.

Cameron noticed John pause and shake his head, she stared after him curiously for a moment before then following after him.

The Connor's along with the newest member of the 'family' began to load the weapons into their SUV's they made quick work of the weapons themselves, the ammo was what took a great deal of time. After about an hour they were finished, and were quickly on their way home. Thought this time, Derek drove with Cameron and John, while Sarah drove with Alex, it was time for her to make a choice on whether or not to take a chance and trust this guy.

"Your mother is a strange woman." Sarah commented after about twenty minutes of driving.

"You can say that again." Alex replied dryly, as he stared out the window and watched as the scenery passed by.

"Did John choose you specifically for this mission?" Sarah asked, after a moment of silence.

"I volunteered." Alex answered, Sarah felt a shiver pass up her spine as he replied. His word were the same as Kyle's from all those years ago.

"Why?" Sarah inquired, as she shook off the feeling.

"I've given a lot of myself to John Connor. I've given him my blood, my sweat, my tears," Alex paused and raised his right arm, he had still been wearing the dark grey coat, he rolled the sleeve back, and showed it to Sarah. She stared at it for a moment, it looked normal, nothing seemed wrong with it, then she realized what it was, this arm didn't have the same sub-dermal fiber-weave that the rest of his body had, "I even gave Connor one of my arms." Alex finished.

"You said earlier that John asked you to do this." Sarah stated, trying to keep focused.

"John asked a few of us to do this... I was the one that volunteered." Alex clarified.

"What will you do? When you find her I mean, what will you do with John and his wife?" Sarah asked, glancing at the soldier out of the corner of her eye.

"Whatever I have to, too keep them alive. Like I said... John Connor was like a father to me... I'd die for him. I'll protect him with every fiber of my being." Alex stated, a small amount of passion evident in his eyes.

"He's still a kid... he makes stupid decisions sometimes. The fighting with our back's to the wall I can deal with, the constantly being hunted by SkyNet, I can deal with, what I can't deal with is not knowing when to let go. There are times when I think he's ready and then he goes and does something stupid and I'm sure that he's not. I just don't know what to do with him." Sarah stated, deciding to take a chance on this guy.

"John Connor once snuck into a SkyNet detention camp by himself and freed about two thousand people, he then leveled the entire complex by jury-rigging, several hydrogen fuel cells to explode, the whole time he was being attacked by a prototype T-800, modeled after the one that was sent back to protect him as a boy. He barely managed to escape before the whole damn place went up in flames. The year was twenty-nineteen and everyone thought he was crazy to do what he did. It was only after he had accomplished what they all assumed was impossible did everyone see him for the messiah that he is... John Connor is a genius, he's smart, he's tactful, he's an amazing tactician, and one hell of a fighter, but what makes him better then all the rest, what makes him so amazing, is his passion for life." Alex explained, he had a faraway look in his eyes the whole time.

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked curiously.

"The facility he snuck into, the one where he freed all of the prisoners there, he did all of that for one person, a man that John knew would be needed in the future. John risked his life, and nearly died, to rescue his father, Kyle Reese from that SkyNet detention camp," Alex paused as he thought of a way to answer her question, he finally thought of a good way to explain, her future son to her. "John doesn't hate them, the machines. If fact he loves them, in his eyes they're like children, being forced to fight for SkyNet. He want's to free them, to let them make their own choices."

"They're machines though, they can't be 'free', it's all numbers and codes for them, they don't know what freedom is." Sarah argued.

"I'm going to tell you something... and you're not going to like it. Before he sent her back in time, John inserted a program into Cameron's CPU, this program would trick her software into thinking it had been reprogrammed." Alex explained.

"What in the hell does that mean?" Sarah asked, shaking her head.

"When the resistance captured Cameron, instead of reprogramming her to fight for them, John wiped all of her standing orders. He then flipped the switch to allow her to learn, and woke her up. A machine without a standing order, will just stand around and do nothing, but Cameron didn't, she woke up, looked around and found that she had no purpose in life. She didn't have a standing order, therefore she had no reason to exist. This caused a lot of frustration within her CPU, a paradox if you would. She didn't have an order therefore she had no reason to exist, and yet she did exist, but she had no order. The first thing she tried to do was reinstate her previous order to kill John Connor, but she was having difficulties giving herself that order." Alex explained as they drove, Sarah listened intently, she had never known much about Cameron's back-story, and this was providing her with a lot of insight into the way the machine thought.

"She spent about two weeks pestering John to give her an order, it was pretty funny, Connor forbade anyone besides him from speaking in Cameron's presence, so that she wouldn't interpret anything they said as an order. Whenever she would ask him for an order he would reply with something nonsensical, or off topic, never asking anything of her, he didn't even ask her any questions, she just followed him around and annoyed him. Eventually she discovered a solution and asked John for help, she asked him to modify her CPU, so that she could give herself her own 'orders'. That was exactly what John had been waiting for, and he happily complied. He rewrote her code and gave her the ability to give herself, her own orders, this in turn effectively made Cameron the first machine since SkyNet to possess free will. Naturally the first order she gave herself was to kill John Connor, but as she was about to carry out the order, John asked her why she gave herself that order. She didn't know why, at first she thought that is was her mission but then she realized that she could change her mission perimeters at will. She then looked at John and asked him whether or not she was free to leave, he said that she was. She asked if she could stay, he said she could. She asked if she could fight, he said that she could. Finally she asked is she was in fact alive, John said that she was. It was at that moment, Cameron became self-aware. John then asked her if she would join the resistance... and she agreed." Alex explained.

"So... what does any of this have to do with that program you were talking about? Cameron became self-aware and then John reprogrammed her anyway?" Sarah asked, a lot of this was way over her head.

"No... The program that John wrote was to act like a lie... Cameron thinks she was reprogrammed... and so did you," Alex explained he now wore a devilish smile.

Sarah eye's widened as she drove, she now understood what he meant, "Cameron has been capable of changing her programming this whole time?"

"Yep... and like me... she volunteered for this mission..." Alex replied as he refocused his attention on the road.

Sarah felt a chill run up her spine as she thought about the tin miss, following in the car behind them, sitting next to her son, fully capable of deciding at any given second to end his life... … … 'Just like a human being'. That thought stuck with Sarah all the way home, and would continued to haunt her in the days to come.

_Okay that's it for this chapter let me know what you think, starting to get more into the story, hopefully next chapter will be all story and little to no exposition. Let me know what you think and until then, SEE YA!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Okay... so I've been engrossed in T:SCC for a little while now, and I think I'm about ready to return to my other story... but I feel like I should get in another chapter... since I've made you guys wait for so long._

_**Another, Insane Choice.**_

The Hand that Guides.

**-Later that day-**

Sarah stood over her son, watching as he fiddled with his lap-top. Ever since they had returned home, Sarah kept close to his side, eyes fixated on either him, or Cameron. As she watched her son, she couldn't help but regret not taking the chance she had, to bore Alex with more question, about future John and his decision to allow Cameron to essentially achieve sentience.

Sarah glanced over at the machine who stood staring out the window, Sarah wondered what was going through that robotic brain of hers, what was she thinking, and why was she thinking it? All of this was beginning to make her head hurt.

The group had returned just an hour prior and were waiting for nightfall to begin packing in the weapons. They didn't want to do it in the day time for fear someone would spot them.

Derek and Alex, sat off in the kitchen sipping back beers, from the sound of it, they were having a merry time. Given Derek's somber attitude when it came to the future, Sarah found it almost impossible to resist the urge to wander into the kitchen and see what they were chatting about, but in the end she stopped herself. Her eyes remained focused on Cameron, Sarah was doing a very good job, hiding just how much she was panicking over the news that Cameron had been free to choose what she wanted to do this whole time.

"Okay here's one. Five bedroom, three bath, a two car garage, and it's located only four miles away." John commented dryly. Ever since he had returned home, his mother had set him to work, finding a new place to live.

"... Wasn't that the day when Kyle woke up to find that big ass rat sitting on his lap?" Alex asked cheerfully as he and Derek wandered into the room.

"That was the biggest goddamn rat, I'd ever seen." Derek commented, making a face as he recalled that incident.

"I guessing the Reese brothers ate good that night." Alex commented with a laugh.

"Oh... don't remind me... I think that thing was pregnant." Derek replied with a shake of his head.

"Yeah well... it adds texture." Alex stated as he sat on the couch next to John, Derek quickly sat next to him and they both glanced at John for a moment, before losing interest and returning to their conversation.

"You two seem to be in good spirits." John commented, as he glanced at the two of them.

"I blame it on the booze." Alex replied as he held up the beer bottle and examined it.

"How come when Derek remembers the war, he becomes morbid, but when you remember, it seems like a big game?" Sarah asked, a mixture of curiosity and condescension evident in her voice.

"Unlike Derek, I was born into that world... it was home to me... I never had a problem with the desolation and the shattered ruins of a past I knew nothing about. So when he remembers the war, he remembers what we lost..." Alex responded, Derek offered a half-nod of agreement as he took another swig of his beer.

"You don't?" John asked tilting his head curiously.

"Nope... and I don't think I ever will. Coming back here and seeing all of this, it's nice, and beautiful, but it's not home to me. If all this went away, I don't think I'd be bothered at all." Alex replied, he had a far away look in his eyes, it was evident that there was deeper reason as to his lack of care for this age.

Before he could stop himself, John felt his curiosity get the best of him, and he decided to press for more info. "You're not bothered at all that, all of this... three billion live will be ended, in only a few years?"

"I once asked you a similar question. I asked you, if it was possible to stop judgment day, and go back to the way things were, would you do it. You replied that you would stop judgment day, but not so that things could go back to as they were before. I asked you why that was, what you thought was so bad with how the world was before. You told me, that it was the corruption of man, that led to this eventuality. You told me that with the way humans were before the bombs fell, judgment day was inevitable. I didn't really understand what you meant at the time, but after a few more years had passed, and I learned more about the world before the bombs fell, I finally realized what you meant." Alex explained.

"...And what was that?" John asked, very interested to hear his future perspective on the world, that he lived in now.

"Self-preservation. It's the primary drive of human beings. And as long as people see other people as a threat to their well-being, greater and greater weapons will be created to end that threat. The only way to end this loop, is to force a greater enemy to present itself before man. SkyNet is that enemy. General Connor understood, that the war needed to happen, otherwise, humans would just keep killing each other. After Judgment day, the whole of the human race will be united to fight this singular threat to their well-being, and thus the cycle ends." Alex explained.

"Using that logic though, wouldn't that mean the SkyNet would have to remain? If it were defeated, then man would one day resume killing man." John replied. Sarah, Derek, and even Cameron all listened intently to this conversation. Derek scratched his head trying to wrap his mind around what this could possibly mean, while Sarah simply made a face, as she listened to the conversation play out, both of them were well aware that this conversation was something of a pivotal one. It was a philosophical conversation with no real answer, and they both found it odd that the two people having this, 'deep' conversation were a sixteen year old boy, and a thirty year old soldier from the future.

"Yes it would... I'm not really sure what can be done about it. If SkyNet wins, we all die, but if we win, then aren't we just restarting the endless loop of violence? I don't know... it's something to think about." Alex replied, as he took another drink of his beer.

"The sad truth is that you're right, without SkyNet, one day humans will start fighting humans again. Did you ever ask the future me, about any possible solutions?" John replied, he had a far away look in his eyes.

"Yeah I did, he just laughed and said if I came up with any solutions to let him know." Alex answered, "Why? You think you might know the answer?"

"Theirs only one answer I can think of, and that is to stop being human." John replied shaking his head and sitting back on the couch.

"Well... isn't that a conundrum. If you figure out how we can stop being human, you let me know." Alex replied with a chuckle.

John stared off for a moment before he noticed Cameron staring at him, "What?"

"That was deep." Cameron replied, as she returned to staring out the window.

Sarah made a face, and glanced down at John, and the other men, she did a double take, when she noticed all three of them making the same face. There was something so similar about the way each one of them, tilted there head slightly, and narrowed their eyes. She guessed that it might have been something that ran in Kyle's blood, since John was Derek's nephew, but then again there was Alex, making the same face, so it might have just been a guy thing.

Sarah was quickly realizing that Alex was much more open about his past then Derek, and he had an even greater knowledge of the future then anyone they had ever met. She quickly made the choice to try for some more information about him.

"How did you lose your arm?" Sarah asked, John and Derek both glanced at Alex who grimaced.

"You lost your arm?" Derek asked as he glanced at Alex's arms.

"Yeah... I didn't necessarily lose it, but I had to get it replaced." Alex replied as he showed them all his right arm. "My whole right arm, all the way to the shoulder. Replaced with a metal prosthetic, and covered with skin and muscle, grown from my own tissue. Rewired with nerve endings, so I can feel, but because I'm a soldier, they left out the pain sensors, so you guys are going to have to tell me if I hammer a nail through my hand or something." Alex finished with a chuckle, as he flexed and un-flexed his hand.

"How did you lose it?" John asked curiously.

"Got into a fight with a 1200 series, me and a few guys. We were up close and the damn thing threw me into a wall of debris, that just so happened to be supporting, more debris. It wall fell on me, and a large chunk of concrete crushed my whole arm and some of my shoulder. The others managed to take down the 1200, but there was no way they could get me out. Two of them decided to run back to base and fetch one of the cyborgs, and some medics to help me out. The last one, a girl, she was about fifteen at the time, she stayed with me. Kept me breathing, kept me conscious. I was really lucky..." Alex trailed off, as a small smiled appeared on his face.

"Girlfriend?" Derek asked, sensing a connection between Alex, and the girl in his story.

"No... I was about twenty-five at the time, and I didn't even know her that well. Her name was Bailey, she was new to the field, she'd only been with my team for like three weeks, and everyone always gave her crap because she was an FM child..." Alex replied, after a moment his eyes widened, almost as if he realized he had said something he shouldn't have.

"An FM child?" John asked, narrowing his eyes.

Sarah and Derek both shared a glance as Alex cringed visibly from John's question.

"Shit..." Alex sighed,

"FM brigade... Free Machines brigade." Cameron stated, as she returned to the conversation.

"Yeah..." Alex sighed again as he scratched his head.

"FM child... Free Machines child?" Cameron asked.

Alex simply nodded and hung his head.

"Like... as in a machine... and a... … … holy shit!" John stated as his jaw dropped.

"Yeah... was waiting for a more appropriate time to bring that up." Alex stated, as he glanced over at John.

"That's not possible. You can't possibly be saying that there are machine that can have children!" Sarah hissed, as she came to the same realization as her son.

"Well... there are." Alex replied as he took another swig of beer.

"That is bullshit! Who in the flying fuck thought that was a good idea?" Derek whined as he rubbed his temples.

"SkyNet." Alex replied.

"What do mean?" John asked, his eyes still wide.

"We call them MK. 2's. They're refurbished infiltrator models, 800's, 888's, and all infiltrator models that followed, SkyNet's way of reverse engineering Hybrids without the need for human beings..." Alex began to explain, but Sarah cut him off.

"Hybrids? What the fuck are those?" She hissed.

"Humans who have been outfitted with Metal endoskeletons and other machine base parts, while retaining there human organs, heart, brain, intestines, so on and so fourth. Anyway, the hybrids were meant for long term infiltration, I'm talking months. So they had to appear mostly human, but still remain under SkyNet's control. As some point or another, in the 2020's SkyNet started making the MK. 2's. These guys were outfitted with several unique modification to allow for long term infiltration. When I say long term I mean 'long' term, like as in decades." Alex continued to explain as Derek and Sarah both grumbled angrily.

"SkyNet, switched out a shit-load of parts, and human organs, and ran a lot of test around dogs. It kept trying until it found the right combination of man and machine, that wouldn't set the dogs off. It then proceeded to modify these models and most future models with the ability to enter into a long term infiltration state. These models could do anything, from get sick, to have babies." Alex finished with a shake of his head.

"That's not possible." Sarah stated, she almost looked sick.

"It is. We've seen it happen. SkyNet wanted to make infiltrators that could remain undiscovered for years. No one will suspect you of being a machine if you're walking around with a baby in your belly. It was around 2031 when we started to realize that these models had infested our bases, and were acting as sleeper agents for unknown purposes. After we found them, Connor began cleaning house, and we quickly identified dozens of them. These refurbished models, were lighter and weaker then their counterparts, so they didn't pose much of a threat when we started to destroy them. It was only when John got his hands on one did he realize what this truly meant. He quickly began reprogramming these machines left and right, hell now a days, almost any machine with a skin-sheath can be modified to allow for child-birth. Bailey was five when she learned that her mother was a machine. Her and her dad, didn't know what to do. From that day forth, children of men and machine, were known as FM children." Alex explained, he was very careful how he worded everything, she shock the Connor's must be feeling at this revelation, had not escaped him.

"That's amazing." John stated, in a both shocked and amazed tone.

"Yeah... it is pretty amazing. SkyNet gave both sexes of cyborg, the right... 'parts' and had the DNA match the skin-sheath. Like I said, both sexes have been extensively modified, the females more then males. So the end result, the machine is much weaker and easier to dispose of, but they're also much harder to detect. These Mk. 2's also operate using advanced CPU's that allow them to mimic human behavior much better then then other variants, while still retaining their connection to SkyNet. The FM brigade offers any machine that desires it, the choice of getting these modifications." Alex stated.

"What in the hell is the FM brigade? You said 'in good time' well it's been some time, now talk." Sarah growled, as she messaged her eyes. This was all way to stressful, the knowledge that Cameron was sentient, and now baby making machines? Sarah didn't know how much more news she could take.

Alex stared at Sarah for a minute before letting out a sigh, and beginning. "The Free machines brigade, is equal parts, scientific research, weapons testing, military unit, and social movement. It consists of mostly younger individuals, people who were born after judgment day, who all believe that cyborgs should share the same god given rights as a human being. About forty percent of all cyborgs are members of this group, and it strongly advocates for the rights of machines freed from SkyNet." Alex explained.

"So it's a bunch of machine sympathizers and their cyborg buddies trying to convince everyone that these tin cans are human?" Derek chided angrily.

"No... they aren't trying to convince people that the cyborgs are human, their main goal is to show the world that the machines are in fact sentient. They advocate of behalf of the machines in the hopes that people will realize that the cyborgs are just as much a part of this world as we are, and are deserving of better treatment, then simply being thought of as...'Tin cans'" Alex replied, glaring at Derek. Derek simply huffed in reply.

"Machine are machines. They can't feel, they can't love, or hate. They're are just metal, and computer chips." Sarah stated, glaring down at Alex darkly.

Alex glanced at her for a moment, before locking eyes with John and smiling. "Did you know John, that their has never been a single recorded case, where a cyborg parent has harmed it's child? Never. We've seen these sleeper's wipe out an entire bunker, and when we bust it, do you know what we find? The cyborg huddled next to it's child trying to comfort it."

"Why is that?" John asked.

"I don't know... it's one of the biggest mysteries there are. My mother once hypothesized that the cyborg sees the child as an extension of itself... like a literal piece of it's body. She guessed that since all cyborgs are incapable of self-termination, they cannot kill their children, but if that's true then why don't they simply return to SkyNet once everyone is dead, why do they remain and try to comfort their children?" Alex finished, keeping his smile.

"That would make sense... but then again, if it's only a hypothesis, then I guess, there's nothing in the terminators code to back it up? Plus, you're right, why would they remain once their mission is complete?" John replied, deep in thought.

Alex glanced up at Sarah, who eyes were still boring into him, "Glower at me all you want. I'm simply stating a fact."

"Come on, Mercury. You can't possibly support this crap. Did you forget everything that they did to us? Or has the apocalypse gotten a lot prettier since I've been away?" Derek chided, almost sounding disappointed.

"You don't need to remind me about what they've done to us! Take a good long look at me! I've given half my fucking body to win this war, Reese!" Alex snapped suddenly becoming very angry, and surprising both Derek and Sarah. John did his best to hide a smirk, he sympathized with his mother and uncle, but sometimes their paranoia of the machines, and their constant bashing on the terminators that helped them, really annoyed him. He especially found it frustrating when they bashed on Cameron, sure she was a machine but come on, if she was a dog their treatment of her would be borderline abuse. As he sat their John felt a twinge of guilt pass through his body, as he recalled how his own treatment of Cameron had not been very positive either. 'Jesus, I'm becoming my mother.' he thought as he refocused on the fight that was likely to break out.

"Hey! Don't get pissed at me! You're the one who let Connor, put that shit inside of you!" Derek retorted, as he stood. Alex quickly stood too, locking eyes with Derek, as the two men stared each other down.

"Watch yourself Lieutenant! I'm not some kid that you can pick on anymore." Alex rebutted.

"... We're not in your little 'Federation', either! This is the wild west, and people get hurt out here." Derek growled.

"You really want to do this Reese?" Alex asked angrily.

"Take a good long look around! All these people, everyone here, dead! Your precious machines kill them all, and those of us that survive are left to fight the fucking terminators. You may not care if all of this goes away, but some of us do." Derek stated coldly, the two still hadn't broken eye contact.

"Do you know why Connor chooses to lock himself away? To hide behind a wall of cyborgs? People like you." Alex replied, his eyes aflame with anger.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Derek asked, John could tell, his uncle was getting ready to sock Alex right in the kisser.

"Men built my precious machines!" Alex nearly shouted. Derek stared at him for a second, thinking about that statement for a second.

"Human being's in their quest for eternal safety turned to something they thought they could control. Thus, SkyNet was born. Man did this Derek, people like you, and Sarah, who are too preoccupied with your own damn fears! I've been here one damn day, and I can see it! Why the hell can't you?" Alex hissed before turning to focus his attention on Sarah.

His features softened slightly, John could tell that, Alex didn't want to take his anger out on her, but he needed her to understand.

"God created man, and we created them... at what point do you take a step back and realize... that you might have just created life?" Alex asked, with a sympathetic look.

Sarah simply, let out a sigh and bit her lip in reply.

"They can have children... with humans... and probably with each other too... that makes them a species... kind-of. Though of course, people like you won't be satisfied until you see a cyborg weep, with the body of it's dead child clutched in it's arms." Alex stated, darkly before taking a deep breath and regaining his composure.

Alex glanced back at Derek, who had his head bowed, and looked to be deep in thought.

"Look... I'm not asking you to like them. These are my beliefs, I'm not gonna force them on you, but i wont let you force yours on me, either. I'm sure we'll butt heads over this topic again, but until that time... sorry I brought it up, it was slip of the tongue and you didn't need to know." Alex stated politely.

"Thank you for explaining." They all heard Cameron state, as she turned to exit the room, and wander upstairs.

"It'll be dark soon, I'm gonna go for a walk... clear my head." Alex said as he turned and began walking towards the front door.

"Alex..." Derek halfheartedly tried to call after him, but stopped and simply rubbed his eyes tiredly.

John simply shook his head, and pulled out his phone, deciding to use Riley as a good excuse to leave the room.

"I'm gonna see if I can't get in touch with Riley. She still hasn't called me." John stated as he stood and headed for the stairs.

"Yeah... you do that." Sarah said more to herself then to him.

John left the two of them standing in the living room, as he headed for his bedroom. On his way there he passed Cameron's room, he glanced in as he passed, but stopped when he noticed something curious. Cameron was standing in front of her mirror, with her hands on her stomach, staring at herself.

"What are you doing?" John asked out of curiosity, as he stood in her door way.

"I always wondered why my design would incorporate, such flaws." Cameron replied, as she continued to stare at herself in the mirror.

"What do you mean?" John asked as he stepped into the room and leaned on the wall.

Cameron turned to look at him, her hands still on her belly. "There is an opening here." Cameron stated, as she glanced down at her stomach.

"Like where your stomach is?" John asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"I don't have a stomach. There is simply a large amount of meat and tissue in this area. It's a weak point in my design. My endoskeleton structure in this area is almost identical to a human's bone structure. In this area, my endoskeleton is shaped like a spine, hip bone, and pelvis." Cameron explained in simple terms.

John stared at her for a moment, before his eyes widened in as he realized why she had been designed that way.

"John... do you think I could mother a child?" Cameron asked, with an innate sound of curiosity.

John didn't reply, he simply stared at her, as she returned to examining herself in the mirror. 'What in the hell, was happening?' he thought as he continued to watch the machine examine itself. After a moment John turned to leave, as he was though, her question echoed in his head, 'could she possibly mother a child?'. John was about to shake off the thought when for some reason the memory of how much Samantha, and Cameron sounded like each other, when they said good-bye to each other, flashed into his head.

John stood there for a moment... processing this influx of information. For some reason his brain was forcing him to think about Samantha and Cameron, he knew there was a connection between the two, but he just couldn't place it.

"John." Cameron stated, drawing John's attention, and breaking his line of thought.

"What?" He asked.

"Your mother is calling us." Cameron stated, as she walked past him.

John decided to shake off the thought, as he followed after Cameron, to see what his mother wanted, 'probably time to start on those weapons.' he thought as they made their way down the hall. He decided to wait until later when he was alone, to put some more thought into the connection between Samantha and Cameron.

_Alright so here's then next chapter... had some drama in it. I've got to return the my other story, so for now, let me know what you think and until next time, SEE YA!_


	6. Chapter 6

_I hope you all enjoyed the holiday! I took a small break from writing to recoup, now that, that's done I can get back to work... thx for being so patient and I hope you enjoy._

_**Another, Insane Choice**_

What I Wouldn't Do

John Connor let out a tired sigh as he noticed sunlight beginning to trickle through the curtains. He had been awake for several hours lost in thought, everything that they had learned, everything that had happened.

'A wife? Guess that's one more thing I can check off the list of shit I can't control.' John thought to himself.

After a moment of silence he felt and eagerness overtake him, he had spent a lot of time thinking about the previous days events and had made a lot of stunning inferences, John let out another sigh before, deciding to get and venture out, in search of Alex.

John passed Cameron's room, which was right next to his, as he passed it, he recalled the question she had asked him, 'could she mother a child?'. John came to a pause as the question, returned to the forefront of his mind.

John had been thinking about a lot, in the hours he had spent awake, but for some reason this thought kept returning to him. Why was is so important, why should he care if Cameron could have children... it's not like that meant anything to... anyone.

'Except you.' his mind fired back.

John stood there for a moment, 'except me?' Why me? He wondered silently, as an image of Samantha Cameron crawled into his mind.

'Come on John... you're smarter then this. What the fuck is the connection between the two of them?' John thought, as for some reason another memory surfaced, when Alex had accidentally spilled the beans about the FM children, he had said that he was waiting for the right time to bring it up.

'Why would he need to bring it up at all?' John asked himself, Alex was an enigma of everything he had come to learn about the future. Uncle Bob, Derek, Cameron... all of them were silent about the future, the two terminators would often only offer simplistic explanations to his questions or in Cameron's case, counter them with questions of her own. In Derek's case it seemed like he was trying to spare John from the horrors of the war, for as long as he could, however noble that ideal was, it prevented John from really asking the questions that he needed too.

Alex was different, not only was he open to answering any and all questions, about the future, the war, the machines, and even John himself, but he seemed to revel in the chance to explain things. Even so, Alex seemed very mission oriented... much like Cameron and Derek, why would he need to bring up anything unless it pertained to his mission? 'Unless... maybe...'

"John." Came Cameron's voice, John's eye immediately refocused and he noticed Cameron standing in her door way, staring at him. "You've been standing outside my room, for ninety-six seconds, and you haven't moved, is something wrong?"

John just stared at her, he hadn't heard her, his brain was still trying finish that last thought, when suddenly it struck him. "Holy shit!" John whispered as his eyes went wide, he stared at Cameron for another moment before turning and walking down the hall.

Cameron stared after him for a moment, and was about to follow, when he called back, "I'm fine Cameron." She stood there for a moment before returning to her room.

John made his way downstairs and quickly located Alex, whom was standing at the windows in the living room, staring out at the outside world.

"Hey..." John greeted him.

"Hey, you look like you slept well." Alex replied with a huff.

Yeah... not really... I've been doing a lot of thinking." John replied as he scratched his head.

"What about?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"The future... my wife... stuff like that. Look... I've given it some thought..." John paused as he let out a sigh, "I think you know who my wife is, you're just not telling me because I need to figure it out on my own."

"A reasonable assumption." Alex commented, not confirming or denying it.

"I know you can't tell me... but if I figure it out, can you tell me then?" John asked, eying Alex intently.

"Assuming I actually know who she is, I guess if you figured it out on your own, then I'd have to move the two of you to and undisclosed and hidden location, to await judgment day." Alex replied, giving John a strange look.

"I think I know who she is." John declared after a moment.

"Oh really?" Alex asked, eying him curiously.

"I took a step back, and looked at everything that happened yesterday, I tried to see all of it from a strategic standpoint. You, whom Derek has described as a pretty big asset in the future, were sent back to protect me, and my future wife. While at the same time, dozens of resistance fighters were also sent back to fight SkyNet. I had to wonder, if a time machine can send you back to any date in time, then why would future me send you back, to a point in time before I met my wife. All of those resistance fighters are out working on their missions, so why aren't you? It took me a few hours but I finally pieced it together." John declared, as a knowing grin crept across his face.

"It took me some time to realize that, there was no reason, what so ever, that I would send you back, earlier. So with that thought in mind, you were sent back, when I already knew my wife. You said that you'd been here for a few weeks, looking for us, but that's not true, future me would have told you exactly where to find me, which means you've been watching us for a few weeks now. You only revealed yourself, to deal with those terminators, otherwise you wouldn't have, you would have remained in the shadows, doing your best to not influence me one way or another, until I found my wife. However... here you stand, the only logical reason, a smart, talented and highly skilled soldier like yourself would break from procedure and reveal yourself like that, would be because I've already met my wife." John continued.

"A very wise assumption." Alex commented.

"You see I figured it out... just now, a few minute ago. I spent a lot of time thinking about my future wife, and all that I'd learned about SkyNet, from you... but for some reason, something kept coming back to the forefront on my mind, a similarity that I noticed, between Cameron and your mother. At first I thought that it was possible that Cameron was simply modeled after her... but the more I thought about it the more untrue that felt. They looked similar but not exact, no one would confuse them for each other. So Cameron couldn't have been modeled after her, so then why did they seem so alike? Then you told me about the FM children... when you slipped up, you said that you were waiting for the right time to tell me. After a little thought, it occurred to me that, that point had exactly nothing to do with your mission, why would you need to tell me at all? Unless it did have something to do with your mission." By now Alex was grinning back at the young Conner, a mischievous look in his eye.

"...and what did all these revelations, lead you to concluding?" Alex asked.

"Well if I'm right, and I already know my future wife, it's either Riley or Cameron, and you made a point to say that it wasn't Riley... so that leaves Cameron. Now... I came to this realization earlier this morning, to say that it was odd, would be an understatement, but just now I realized something else." John stated, giving Alex a look.

"You're an FM child aren't you?" John asked after a moment.

"The first." Alex replied with a nod.

"I figured." John sighed.

"How could you tell?" Alex asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

"Well... it was your mother that kinda tipped me off, she's a cyborg right?" Alex simply nodded in response, "I gotta say... that was a good cover on her part, when Cameron tried to scan her. Saying that she was testing out something that stopped machines from being able to scan a person, it was a good cover. Only someone technologically inclined like myself could have seen through it. What she described, the tech, she said she was testing, at best it would cause a machine to investigate why it can't scan you. Someone who understands how the terminators work, would see that something like that, wouldn't be effective. It was a good cover though, Mom and Derek won't think twice about it, and your mother is one of Cameron's commanding officers, and this sort of thing must be common. It makes sense... I'm going to guess that, it's only Cameron that can't scan her. It's probably something in Cameron's code that stops her from identifying that your mother, is a cyborg, and I understand why."

"You are very perceptive John, it took you a grand total, of one day to figure all this out." Alex praised him.

"Well, I was meant to, right?" John replied with a sigh.

"So Cameron is your future wife, my mothers a cyborg, and I'm an FM child... any other revelations occur?" Alex stated with a dry chuckle.

"Only one... Cameron and Samantha, they're the same person aren't they?" John asked, he seemed to tense up slightly, knowing what the answer could mean, in regards to Alex.

In response Alex grinned widely.

John let out a loud sigh... out of all the revelations that had occurred today, this one was the most insane.

"If Cameron and Samantha were the same person that means that Cameron is your mother, and if Cameron is my future wife, that means that you're my..." John paused, and just let the statement hang in the air.

"Son." Alex finished for him after a moment. John simply let out another sigh and stared at the floor for a few moments. After some time he looked back up at Alex who was just grinning back at him, suddenly a thought came to him that and he decided to bring it up.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" John asked as he scratched the side of his head.

"A lot, according to you." Alex replied with a laugh.

"First I send back my father, so that I can be born, then I send back Cameron, so that one day I can marry her and have kids, then I send my own child back, to ensure that me and my wife, who is a cyborg, don't get killed. I then send my own wife back in time to do god knows what. I don't know whether I should be pissed off or not. My future self is the one who is dictating what I do with my life, but if you think about it, he's making choice to ensure his past, so... basically I have to go along with it, or I might fuck something up." John voiced his problem.

"That is quite the conundrum." Alex agreed.

John simply shook his head and rubbed his eyes, before asking, "You obviously lied to stop anyone but me from figuring it out, so what did you lie about?"

"Not much... aside from Cameron being killed destroying that T-X a few years from now." Alex replied with a shrug.

"So you really didn't know that I was your father?" John asked, curiously.

"I had my suspicions growing up, but never any proof. I learned the truth when I was twenty-seven, but I don't think you ever knew that I knew." Alex responded.

"You said I have children, as in more then one. Did you ever meet them?" John asked as he took a seat on the couch.

"Yeah... I've met all of them. All of them had different last names, and they had to keep their identities a secret, but there was no mistaking it, they looked a lot like you." Alex replied with a warm smile.

"Why were you the only one that I held at arms length?" John asked with a tilt of his head.

"I guess one of your kids had to remain a secret, even to himself. You took care of the other three, they were still a secret, but people suspected you had kids, so it wouldn't be a surprise. I guess I was kept away so that if anything ever happened to you or the others, then at least one member of the Connor clan would survive." Alex answered, as he scratched his head. "That's my guess, anyway."

"This is a lot to take in." John stated, after a moments pause.

"I'm sure it would be... glad it didn't take you too long to figure it out. I plan on waiting until, Cameron figures it out, and you actually decide to act on it before I do anything with the two of you." Alex commented, almost like he was trying to hint at something.

"So... as long as Cameron doesn't know and I keep it in my pants, we're free to keep fighting, that sounds like a pretty shitty trade." John huffed in reply.

"Yeah well if I take the two of you now, then you're going to have to spend the next few years, in some Mexican village, awkwardly trying to make a pass at each other. I think it's for the best we not force this." Alex joked.

"Yeah... I agree. Any specific time-frame I need to consider?" John asked, with a bit of distaste.

"Well... I don't know. Do I look like your frigging therapist? All I know is that I'm thirty years only, and I left in the year twenty-forty-four, which means you two are together, at the latest in the year twenty-fourteen." Alex replied.

"Great." John sighed.

Alex stared at him for a moment, before a question formed in his mind.

"Hey... you wouldn't happen to know why you described your wife's eyes as blue, do you?" Alex asked.

"What?" John asked in reply, staring at him oddly.

"Yesterday, I gave you the exact description that future you gave me. He said that his wife's eyes were blue. Cameron's eyes aren't blue and neither are my mothers." Alex, explained.

"Cameron's cyborg eyes flash blue, sometimes. I don't know if they're actually blue, or if that's just something she can do." John replied.

"Interesting." Alex stated with an amused nod.

"Do you know what model Cameron is?" John asked.

"Maybe... why so curious? Alex responded.

"Cameron can have kids. Which means her frame was modified. She's naturally lighter and faster then other machines. I'm just trying to figure out if Cameron is a modified model, or if she was custom made. It's just odd to me, she's such a good fighter, and yet she has everything working against her. She's weaker, and she has structural weaknesses, that are required to allow for children. I don't know... it just seems odd." John explained.

"That is interesting. I guess the only three people that could answer that question are Cameron, my mother, and you one day." Alex stated.

"I think I need to get some more sleep." John stated, after a moment.

"Go right on ahead. I'm not stopping you. Try to actually get some rest though, and don't worry so much about all of this... it'll work itself out." Alex replied cheerfully.

"Yeah... I'll try. I've got a lot to think about, though." John said with a nod as he got to his feet, and headed for the stairs.

"I won't tell anyone... I'll leave that to you." Alex called after him.

"Thanks." John replied with a bemused look as he headed up the stairs.

As he made his way down the hall, he passed Cameron's room, right as he passed the door opened and she stepped out.

"You look tired." She commented as he walked past her.

John stopped, and thought of something to say, but nothing came to mind. He didn't know what to say to her, at best all he could do was keep mentally telling himself to 'stay cool'.

"Is something wrong?" Cameron asked.

"Yeah... I didn't get a lot of sleep last night Cameron." John finally replied, 'smooth'.

"Oh... is it stress that's keeping you up?" Cameron inquired.

"No Cameron. I've just had a lot on my mind." John replied as he rubbed his head and continued towards his room.

"Oh... should I tell Sarah, that you're playing hooky today?" Cameron asked.

"Yes!" John called back in reply, as he entered his room and closed the door.

Cameron stood there for a moment staring at the closed door. After a few seconds she turned and headed downstairs.

John stood behind the door for a second, before letting out a sigh and plopping down on his bed. "What the hell have you gotten yourself into John?" He asked himself aloud, as he closed his eyes and tried to let sleep overtake him.

**-Meanwhile-**

Sarah exited her room, and headed for the kitchen. She walked past the living room and found Alex lying on the couch, staring up at the ceiling.

"Your seem to be a man, who's easily occupied." She commented.

"Hey... in order to survive out in the wasteland, you gotta learn how to escape into your own mind at times." Alex rebutted as he sat up.

"Yeah, well... you find anything interesting in there?" Sarah asked with a smirk as she turned to head towards the kitchen.

"Well... if you must know, I fed the hamster, and got him back to running on his wheel. I should be good to work for a few hours before I have to feed him again." Alex joked.

"You're hilarious." Sarah commented dryly.

"I sure am." Alex replied cheerfully.

"Is Derek awake?" She called back to him.

"Yeah... but he left at like three this morning... I don't know where he went." Alex replied.

"Great." Sarah stated to herself as she started to make breakfast. After a moment Cameron came in from outside.

"How's the perimeter look?" Sarah asked, knowing that Cameron walked the perimeter of the house once every hour.

"Kid's were playing in our yard again." Cameron replied, "...and I found a squirrel."

Sarah just gave the terminator an amused look before returning to breakfast.

"John, doesn't want to go to school today." Cameron commented.

"And why is that?" Sarah asked with a sigh.

"He's tired. He didn't sleep well last night. He's upstairs sleeping right now." Cameron replied very straightforwardly.

"Well... I guess he can afford to miss one day." Sarah stated, wondering what was wrong with him.

**-Meanwhile-**

'Knock', 'Knock', 'Knock'.

Derek stood, outside waiting for door to open.

After a moment, Jesse opened the door to her apartment. "Derek..." Jesse greeted him.

"Hey." Derek greeted her, he quickly noticed that she looked like shit.

"The fuck happened to you?" Derek asked after a moment. Jesse had a cut on her lip, and a few bruises on her face.

"I got into a bar fight." Jesse replied.

"Well, that looks like it was fun." Derek stated.

"Yeah... I got arrested. I tried to call you to bail me out last night, but you didn't answer." Jesse, stated.

"Sorry... there was a development at the Connor house." Derek replied as he stepped into the room.

"What happened?" Jesse asked as she followed after him.

"We've got problems..." Derek replied solemnly, and with that he explained everything they had learned the previous day. As he finished the two quietly lamented, about what they would do in the coming days...

_Okay gonna leave at a sudden stop... I'll pick up where I left off, in the next chapter... I hope you guys enjoy and I can't wait to get to the action!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Time for chapter 7 I really love all of the reviews and it gets me pumped for typing... Also... in regards to Cameron dying to the T-X... I went back and clarified that in the previous chapter... that Alex lied about that. So you can stop asking about it. I'll explain why she changed her appearance to become Samantha... and I'll get into more stuff later. I plan on taking this story slow, so people don't feel rushed. With that being said let's begin._

**Another, Insane Choice.**

Believe me when I tell you

"What the hell are we gonna do about this?" Jesse hissed angrily as she paced back and forth in her apartment.

"Fuck if I know. I don't think there is anything we can do... it's not like these ones were created by John... SkyNet made them." Derek replied tiredly.

"It just get's worse and worse... now they can have fucking children... I'm surprised SkyNet hasn't found a way to make the children come out as little fucking cyborgs themselves." Jesse growled as she continued to pace.

"Yeah well... don't go giving the metal any ideas... The last thing we need is metal that can grow more metal." Derek stated.

"This can't be allowed to go on, Derek! You've got to make him understand what they are!" Jesse ordered, pointing a finger at him.

"There is nothing I can tell John that he doesn't already know." Derek rebutted, with a sigh.

"So he just doesn't care? That's fucking great!" Jesse nearly shouted, as she slammed one of the walls with her palm.

"What do you want me to do?" Derek asked, trying his hardest to not join her, in tearing the whole damn apartment to pieces.

"I don't know Derek... first we've got the metal bitch running around, poisoning his mind, and now Alex is here... This is un-fucking believable." Jesse huffed as she leaned against the same wall she slammed.

"Alex isn't so bad... and you remember what he was like... he'd do anything for John." Derek half-halfheartedly tried to defend him.

"Alex Cameron is one of the biggest supporters of making nice with the metal, that there is! He could be more of a problem then that metal bitch!" Jesse responded angrily.

"Come on Jesse... I know you're pissed but it's Mercury... that kid was out fighting for the resistance before he was even a teenager. Plus... he's an adult now... he may still strongly support the machines... but he may not be as fanatical as he used to be." Derek countered, growing increasingly tired of Jesse's bitching.

"Not as fanatical? Weren't you the one who told me that he let Connor put metal inside of him? Who the fuck does that?" Jesse replied.

"Shit... you may be right." Derek stated, deciding to end the argument, and let Jesse finish venting.

"We need to think of something Derek... otherwise those damn machines will own us all!" Jesse hissed darkly.

"What do you want to do? Kill Cameron? Fine let's do that... but if John catches us or god help you Alex... then what? We can't fight John... and I'm pretty sure Alex can kill both of us without breaking a sweat. I mean seriously Jesse... with all that metal that he has inside of him, who knows what he's capable of... we know what the metal can do, and if it catches us... then we're going to have a helluva fight on our hands." Derek explained in an annoyed fashion.

"I know Derek... I know." Jesse stated after a few moments... finally she just tilted her head back and slipped deep into thought, trying to think of a solution to there growing problem.

**-Back at the Connor house-**

"Right... right... thanks for the tip Rick." Alex stated, as he hung up his cellphone.

"Who was that?" Sarah asked as she walked into the living room.

"One of my comrades... they were calling to let me know that they ran into a T-X nearby... it escaped... and could still be in the city." Alex answered, with a little worry.

"How much trouble are these, super-machines? I know that hey can tackle other terminators, but besides that, how much of a problem are we looking at if we run into one?" Sarah asked as she sat on the couch.

"SkyNet created a system of ranking based off of equipment and training that human soldiers posses. When I left, a T-888 was ranked at a 3-1 ratio. That means that, in SkyNet's eyes, a T-888 is a match for three fully equipped UFS troops. When Derek and Cameron came back in time, that ratio was 6-1. That's how SkyNet thinks... for every three infantrymen it needs one T-888. A T-X was ranked at a 15-1 ratio. So... I guess to give you the realistic mathematics, answer... a T-X is five times more dangerous then a T-888." Alex finished explaining with a scratch of his head.

"Great." Sarah stated with a sigh.

Sarah and Alex sat in silence for a few moments as the nearby TV continued to sputter unimportant news... a moment later a reporter appeared on screen, right about now Sarah turned her attention to the news.

"Thanks Mike. I'm here at corner of 75th and Monroe drive, where the body of a young woman was discovered by passerby's earlier this morning... we know from police that the body was discovered without any clothes or possessions. Police are still trying to identify the young lady and are asking that anyone who knows someone matching her description to come forward. She has been described as Caucasian, with blonde hair and green eyes... she also has a star shaped tattoo on her wrist. If anyone knows someone matching this description the police are urging you to come forward and assist them in identifying her..." The reporter continued but by now Sarah had ceased to listen, she recognized that description. She knew who it was.

"That bitch!" Sarah stated angrily.

"What?" Alex asked, confused.

"John's girlfriend." Sarah stated nodding at the TV. "You and I both know who's responsible."

"Wait... the blonde that was here yesterday?" Alex asked as he began to recall seeing the young girl, cowering at the edge of couch, waiting for her moment to escape.

"Yeah... I should have known this would happen. Cameron didn't seem to even care that Riley had overheard us. That she listened in to you, talking about the future. Of course Cameron wouldn't worry about it... she had planned all along to kill the girl." Sarah stated with a shake of her head.

"You don't know that Cameron was responsible. This is a big city with a lot of people in it... shit happens." Alex countered.

"Yeah... it happens to the girlfriend of John Connor... the day after she overhears what the future will be like. The day after you show up and tell us that... shes not going to be John's future wife. Learning that Riley wasn't needed, I should have known that Cameron would have taken this opportunity to kill her." Sarah continued... the anger she felt was evident in her voice.

"I really don't think Cameron is responsible." Alex stated, calmly.

"Of course you don't. They can do no wrong in your eyes..." Sarah shot back as she got to her feet.

"Hey... I don't treat them like they're fucking children... I treat them like they're people. And they can do plenty wrong in my eyes. You wanna know something Sarah... you and I aren't that different... when they kill people that don't deserve it... we see it as murder. But only humans can commit murder." Alex shot back, with a sly grin.

Sarah stared at him for a moment, but then decided against getting into an argument with the younger man. She stared up at the ceiling for a few moments, before turning to walk up the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Alex asked, curiously.

"Someones got to tell John." Sarah replied like it was stupid question.

Alex stared after her for a moment then made a face and sat on the couch. A moment went by when suddenly Cameron appeared in the room.

"Hey there. Did you hear?" Alex asked, giving Cameron a look.

"Yes... Riley's dead." Cameron replied.

"Did you kill her?" Alex asked, his eyes narrow and full of suspicion.

"No." Cameron replied, after a moment.

"But you wanted too?" Alex asked, his gaze was intense.

"Yes... I wanted too." Cameron replied as John came quickly down the stairs, he was breathing deeply, and looked almost in pain. Once he reached the bottom of the stairs he quickly turned and looked at the two of them, though his eyes focused on Cameron. After a moment of staring at her John turned and walked out the front door.

A few moments went by before Cameron followed after him. She found him out on the porch playing with the locket she had given him a few days prior. The locket contained a button, that connected to a small explosive next to her chip.

"Did you do it? Did you kill her?" John asked... without turning around.

"No." Cameron answered. As she replied John turned to face her... he looked angry... and sad.

"Don't lie to me." He stated, his eyes narrow with anger.

"I'm not." Cameron stated with a tilt of her head.

"Sometimes you lie to me." John said, his eyes still locked on her.

"Yes... but I'm not now." Cameron replied.

"How can I believe that?" John asked.

"You can't. But I am sorry." Cameron responded.

"Sorry? For what?" John asked as he took a few steps towards her.

"For your loss." Cameron answered.

John stared at her for a moment, before letting out a sigh and hiding the locket beneath his shirt. Another moment went by before he walked past her back into the house.

**-Elsewhere-**

"Damn... Fine... I'll be there soon." Derek stated with a huff.

"Who was that?" Jesse asked, as she munched on some food.

"Sarah." Derek replied with a sigh, as he hung up his phone and put it into his pocket.

"Something else wrong?" Jesse asked.

"John's girlfriend is dead." Derek replied.

"Really?" Jesse replied, pretending to be shocked.

"Machine killed her." Derek stated.

"What are you gonna do?" Jesse asked.

"I don't know." Derek answered with another sigh.

"You plan on killing her?" Jesse inquired, her eyes narrow and focused.

"I thought you wanted me too." Derek shot back.

"That's not up to us. He has to be the one to make the decision... otherwise he'll rebel against it." Jesse replied.

"You seem to have put a lot of thought into this." Derek stated suspiciously.

"No... but I think about it... just like you." Jesse responded, with a shake of her head.

Derek stared at her for a moment, before getting to his feet and heading for the door.

"I've got to go." Derek called back to her.

"Fine... do that." Jesse replied as she leaned back and stared up at the ceiling.

"Later." Derek called out a he exited.

"Later." Jesse replied in a low voice, with just a hint of sadness in her voice.

**-Back at the Connor House-**

Sarah sat in the kitchen, angrily cleaning a gun, when John passed by. "John." she called to him.

"What?" John asked in an irritated tone as he entered the kitchen. Sarah immediately noticed that he was wearing his black leather jacket.

"You going somewhere?" Sarah asked.

"I just need some air." John replied with an annoyed sigh.

"Well... when you get a chance we need to talk." Sarah informed him.

"About what?" John asked as he took another step into the room.

"You know what." Sarah replied.

John stared at her for a moment before stating, "She didn't do it."

"John... you've seen the way Cameron has looked at her... she wanted to kill her." Sarah argued.

"I know she wanted too... but she didn't" John shot back.

"How can you know that?" Sarah asked, with a shake of her head.

"She told me." John replied.

"She told you? John... I know you want to believe that, that thing had a heart, that it can feel, but it can't... it's a machine!" Sarah growled at him.

John felt a twinge of anger shoot up his spine, out of all the names that Derek and Sarah called Cameron, 'thing' and 'it' were squarely at the top of the list of the ones he hated.

"You would love to believe that... but the truth is... you don't know anything!" John hissed in reply and then quickly turned to leave.

Sarah stared after him for a moment before letting out a loud sigh and returning to cleaning her gun.

**-Four hours later- **

Sarah, Derek, Alex, and Cameron all waited in the living room for John to return... all evidently worried about him. After a moment they all heard the front door open and John walked in.

"John." Sarah stated with a relieved sigh.

"Where were you?" Derek asked as John entered the room.

"I went down to the morgue... I had to see Riley." John replied sadly.

Derek and Alex both grimaced, while Sarah adopted a saddened look and said. "I'm sorry John... you didn't need to see that."

"There was something I needed to see for myself... and now that I have... there is something I need to ask you Derek." John replied, locking eyes with his uncle.

"What is it?" Derek asked.

"How long could you survive... if you were to fight against Cameron. How long do you think you would last in a straight up fight?" John asked.

Derek and the others stared at him curiously for a few moments... before Derek replied... "Well... what kind of weapons do I have?"

"You have fists... and your fingernails and your teeth." John replied.

"Those aren't weapons John." Derek stated.

"No... they're not." John said with a shake of his head.

Derek let out a sigh, and decided to indulge his nephew. "Well... without weapons you know the answer... if she wanted me dead, I'm dead."

"If she wanted you dead, you're dead." John repeated.

"Yeah..." Derek stated, eying his nephew curiously.

John's gaze fell to the floor, for a moment before he looked up at Cameron, he stared at her for a few moments, before walking up to her.

John reached to his neck and grabbed the locket, he held it in his hand for a moment before he tore it off his neck and held it out for Cameron.

"John...?" Cameron asked confused.

"You can have this back... I won't be needing it. I'm sorry for not trusting you." John stated as he placed to locket in her hand.

Cameron looked down at the locket for a few moments before looking back up at John.

"Are you sure? I don't wanna hurt you." Cameron stated.

"I know... and you wont." John replied, as he looked around at the others, Derek and Sarah both stared at him curiously, while Alex simply offered a sympathetic smile.

After a moment of silence John rubbed his eyes and then turned and headed up the stairs to his room.

Cameron stood in place for a few seconds before pocketing the watch and following after him.

"What was that all about?" Derek stated, obviously confused.

"He went to see the body." Alex commented. "She must have put up a fight."

Derek stared at him for a second before realization came over him, and Sarah reinforced this realization by saying, "If the Tin Miss had done it... Riley would have never even had a chance to fight."

"Damn... that means someone else killed her." Derek commented with a scratch of his head.

"It's not our problem... if it really bothers him... then he'll search for answers. Then again... John is a smart boy... and this world is just as dangerous as mine. People die... and sometimes there is nothing we can do about it." Alex stated.

"What did future John do... when stuff like this happened?" Sarah asked.

"If a human killed another human... they were put to death. If a cyborg killed a human... or another cyborg... it's CPU was wiped so that it essentially died. Though a new personality would be born." Alex replied.

"Seems strict." Sarah commented.

"It needed to be... there were few of us as it were... killers needed to be removed for good." Alex stated.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Derek asked.

I don't know." Sarah stated with a sigh. "I just don't know anymore."

All the while Cameron made her way to John's room. She came to a stop once she reached his door, she could clearly hear soft crying, coming from the inside. After a moment she decided to enter.

John was laying on his side, in the center of his bed weeping quietly for Riley.

"John..." Cameron stated sadly, trying her best to draw his attention.

John quickly sat up, and looked over at her. Upon seeing her, he let out a loud sigh and wiped the tears from his cheeks. "What is is Cameron?"

"I'm sorry about Riley. I know you cared about her." Cameron stated sympathetically, as she shut the door and sat on the edge of his bed.

"'Cared' yeah... that's probably the right word, to describe how I felt about her. You didn't come up here just to offer sympathies, so why are you here?" John said with a sigh.

"I don't understand why you gave this back to me." Cameron stated as she held up the locket.

"I trust you Cameron. I know you wont hurt me." John replied.

"It's not about what I want... if I go bad again." Cameron began but John cut her off.

"You wont. I know you wont." John stated with a scratch of his head.

"How do you know?" Cameron asked, tilting her head curiously.

"I don't... It's just what I choose to believe." John replied with a slight laugh.

"Believe?" Cameron repeated, obviously confused by his meaning.

"I'll explain it later Cameron. For now... I think I'm just gonna sleep." John replied as he laid back down on the bed.

"Do you want me to leave?" Cameron asked.

John sat in silence for a few moments thinking about her question when he finally stated, "No..."

"Fine... then I'll stay." Cameron said, a small smile present on her face.

"Good." John stated tiredly, as he began to let sleep overtake him.

**-Meanwhile-**

"What the fuck are we gonna do now?" Derek asked in a frustrated tone.

"Well... First things first... we need to find a new place to live... and then learn how to use our new weapons." Sarah replied.

"...and John needs to be taught how to fight." Alex added, from off to the side.

"John knows how to fight." Sarah shot back.

"No... he knows how to kill... you taught him how to kill... how to pull a trigger. How to use cover and to be prepared... you taught him these things... but he still doesn't know how to fight machines. Neither of you do." Alex countered.

"He's right." Derek stated, "With all the metal running around... he's bound to get caught alone sooner or later. He needs to learn how to go toe-to-toe with a cyborg."

"You're probably right... he still needs a lot of training." Sarah admitted, with a sigh.

"You both do... Look at how long it took us to take down Cromartie with modern weapons, we had to lure him into a kill zone and blast him from every direction... and it still took Cameron getting up close and personal with a shotgun to put him down. With these new plasma weapons... we can actually fight them one on one... but in order to do that... you guys need to learn how." Derek stated.

Sarah let out an irritated sigh... but didn't say anything in reply... she knew they were right, but it irritated her to think that all the training they'd done, all the practicing and fighting they had to endure... they were barely scratching the surface when it came to the skills they would need to survive after Judgment Day.

"You're a warrior Sarah... so is John... You two know how to fight... now you need to learn how to win... and how to kill those cybernetic bastards. It's time the two of you became soldiers." Alex stated with a grin.

"This coming from the you..." Sarah prodded him.

"Hey... John Connor once told me... when it comes to home it's best to keep the soldier out. We get into a fight and I guarantee you'll see who I really am." Alex fired back with a snort.

Sarah simply huffed in response. She knew he was right... though it still sucked to admit it. She decided to let the conversation drop and focus her attention on the TV which, as if aware of their current situation, began telling of a surprising increase in seemingly random murders throughout the city.

**-Later-**

It was around Midnight when John awoke... he found Cameron sitting on the edge of the bed, where she was when he went to sleep earlier.

"That's kinda creepy Cameron." John stated as he sat up.

"Sorry... did you want me to lie next to you?" Cameron responded.

"Or perch up against one of the walls. Or move even a fraction of an inch... yeah... I was kinda hoping for some movement. But no, instead I wake up to you creepily staring down at me... just like my mom does." John joked in reply.

"I'll remember that for next time." Cameron stated, not realizing that he was joking.

John simply rolled his eyes and stoop up. "I'm going to go for a walk. I need to talk to Alex about a few things."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Cameron as as she too got to her feet.

"Nah... I kinda need to talk to him private. So if you don't mind, at least staying out of earshot... that would be nice." John stated, as he walked towards his door.

Just as he opened the door, he barely heard Cameron reply, '"Okay." from behind him.

John made his way downstairs and found Alex, lying on the couch.

"Hey... are you asleep?" John asked.

"Nope." Alex replied, even though his eyes were closed.

"Do you ever plan on getting a full night's sleep?" John asked, with a smirk.

"I had one of those once." Alex said in response as he sat up and looked over at John.

"Oh yeah... what happened?" John inquired.

"The bunker I was in, got attacked and you kicked me in the ribs and told me I could sleep when I was dead." Alex replied with a smile.

"Right... so you wanna go for a walk?" John asked with a scratch of his head.

"Sure." Alex stated as he stood and threw on his trench-coat. He and John quickly exited and began walking down the side walk. "So what do you wanna talk about?"

"I had a few more questions about Cameron." John replied.

"Given what happened to you yesterday, you figure your mind would be elsewhere." Alex stated, giving John a knowing look.

"I kinda want to get my mind off Riley for a little while." John responded, his eyes falling to the concrete.

"Well... what do you wanna know?" Alex asked as they continued.

"Well... one question I had was why does Samantha look different then Cameron?" John started.

"Well... that one is simple... You needed Cameron by your side... but you also needed Allison Young by your side. Allison was the girl that SkyNet designed Cameron off of. So you couldn't have Allison and Cameron mingling. But you also couldn't send Cameron away for a few years so you could work closely with Allison. So the two of you made a tactical choice to change Cameron's appearance shortly before the bombs fell, and after a while the appearance kinda just stuck." Alex responded.

"I guess that makes sense... it would be kinda crazy to meet a terminator that looked like you only, to meet another one, that looks like you later." John stated.

"Plus... you couldn't let SkyNet see you, Cameron... and Allison... otherwise it would have grown suspicious... and Cameron might not have ever been created." Alex added.

"Yeah... I guess." John said with a nod.

"What else did you wanna know?" Alex asked as they continued to walk.

"Why do you think your mother is really here?" John asked seriously.

Alex thought about that question for a few moments... before replying, "I don't know John...but I have a bad feeling about it."

"I know what you mean." John stated.

"Let's talk about something else... I'm sure by now, Cameron has started following us." Alex said with chuckle.

"Yeah... wouldn't want to spill the beans to early, right." John stated, with a huff.

"Hey... when you tell her and make your move is entirely up to you..." Alex chided.

"I know... I know..." John replied as his mind drifted towards the future and what wonders and threats it might hold...

_Okay thats it for this chapter let me know what you think and I hope you enjoyed... I try to answer as many questions as I can... and I also tired to follow the format of episode that Riley died in, as closely as I could... but I also changed a few things. Correct me if i'm wrong but the show never explained how Sarah learned of Riley's death... so I just made it on the news... which also means theirs a good chance Riley's foster parents saw it... so that's why I left that part out. I still have stuff I want to do with Jessie... and at this point I don't think John would suspect someone from Derek's past... why he did in the show was never explained so I left that out too. Anyway... let me know what you thought and look forward to the next chapter._


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